Longer careers in hockey are linked to greater risk of CTE: study

The largest study ever done on the brains of male hockey players has found the odds of getting a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated traumatic brain injuries increases with each year played.

The largest study ever done on the brains of male hockey players has found the odds of getting a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated traumatic brain injuries increases with each year played.

The research out of Boston University CTE Center narrowed in on 77 deceased male hockey players — from the high school level to the NHL— and concluded that the likelihood of having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) increased by 34 per cent each year played. Scientists also found that none of the players who played hockey for fewer than six years had CTE.

“Ice hockey players with longer careers not only were more likely to have CTE, but they also had more severe disease,” said author Jesse Mez, co-director of clinical research at the CTE Centre and associate professor of neurology at Boston University.

The study was published on Dec. 4 in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Of the 77 players' brains researchers studied, more than half had CTE.

Of the professional players examined, 96 per cent had CTE, including 18 of 19 players in the NHL.

Forty-six per cent of college, juniors and semi-professional players presented CTE pathology.