In a first, Aussie Rules Footballer diagnosed with CTE

Sydney, Feb 27 (IANS) For the first time ever, a former Aussie Rules Football player -- Graham "Polly" Farmer -- has been revealed to have Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) -- a degenerative brain condition brought on by repeated head injuries.The AFL legend has been posthumously diagnosed with stage III CTE following tests on tissue from the former ruck's brain at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, said a report in the Guardian. Farmer, who played 101 games for Geelong and led the club from 1965-67, passed away last year at the age of 84 after a long battle with Alzheimer's."Basically what it (Farmer's CTE) does is it tells us that the science has validated what we've been saying," concussion campaigner Peter Jess said."This is the clinical evidence of what the outcome is from repetitive collisions in our sport. This is what we're seeing now in the current cohort of players," he added. Often referred to as "Punch Drunk Syndrome," in the past the condition was mainly associated with ageing boxers.In recent years, numerous cases of CTE have rocked the US' NFL code and heightened calls for more to be done in order to protect athletes across a range of different sports.
--IANS aak/ksk/