NIH study says Junior Seau had brain disease

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ABC News/ESPN broke the story Thursday on Good Morning America that the family of the late Junior Seau was told the former NFL star linebacker had a degenerative brain disease when he committed suicide last May.

 

The Bethesda, Md.-based National Institutes of Health conducted a study of three unidentified brains, one of which was Seau's. It said the findings were similar to autopsies of people "with exposure to repetitive head injury."

 

Seau's former wife, Gina, and Seau's oldest son, Tyler, 23, talked about the results of the NIH study of Seau's brain that revealed abnormalities associated with chronic traumatic encephalopahty (CTE),

 

Seau was an outstanding linebacker for 20 NFL seasons before retiring in 2009. He died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound.

 

Gina Seau said the family was told the diisease came from "a lot of head-to-head collisions over the course of 20 years of playing in the NFL. And that it gradually, you know, developed the deterioration of his brain and his ability to think logically."

 

She said the family chose the NIH because it was a "complete, comprehensive, unbiased scientific institution of the highest level."

 

The NFL, in a statement to USA TODAY Sports, says: "We appreciate the Seau family's cooperation with the National Institutes of Health. The finding underscores the recognized need for additional research to accelerate a fuller understanding of CTE. The NFL, both directly and in partnership with the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and other leading organizations, is committed to supporting a wide range of independent medical and scientific research that will both address CTE and promote the long-term health and safety of athletes at all levels.

 

"The NFL clubs have already committed a $30 million research grant to the NIH, and we look forward to making decisions soon with the NFL Players Association on the investment of $100 million for medical research that is committed in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. We have work to do, and we're doing it."

 

Asked if she believed the NFL was slow to address the issue, Gina Seau told ABC News, "Too slow for us, yeah."

 

The rest of this story (quite long) is at

http://www.usatoday....isease/1822603/