Very interesting read about Scot Brantley and head injuries

[Circle City Gator]

Joe Henderson: No game worth price Scot Brantley is paying

And the most interesting things of all are found in the comments:

Peter A Indelicato MD

I was the Gator team physician that advised him against playing anymore… after the NFL cleared him, newspapers dragged me over the coals …
​

and:

Bill Carr

So sorry to learn of Scott’s condition today. I was the Gator athletic director in 1979 and totally agreed with Dr. Indelicato’s decision to remove him from further collegiate competition due to his head injuries record. We were stunned when the NFL later cleared him to return to the field.​

 

[rogdochar]

AD is a hellacious villain. But most AD victims have not been subjected to repeated traumas.
AD is an old age progressive disease = 13% over age 65 get it , 45% over 85 get it. Microscopically, AD brain changes are taking place in all of us. It's just that we die from other organ failures before AD symptoms set in.
AD has genetic factors, but they do not follow Mendelian inheritance - so if an ancestor came down with AD, it doesn't increase your chances at AD at all.
The CTE stuff of football trauma is not AD (on some levels CTE is worse). Diagnostically, CTE involves increase of neurofibrillary-tangles while AD involves increase in amyloid plaque deposits. But, physical trauma (esp. repetitive) can contribute to developing AD by causing reactive chemical traumas in brain cells, yielding AB-plaques.

Hope ?? Scientists have developed a vaccine that prevents, even reverses AD = in mice. In the human trials that vaccine caused equivalent brain negatives in other ways in too many human subjects. Let them refine things in the vaccine direction.

 

[MADGator]

Excellent find. Thanks.

I was on a camping trip with my dad listening to that game on the radio.

 

[78]

Half of that falls on Brantley for ignoring the advice of the doctors who said he risked dying on the field. Presumably Indelicato was one of them.

The other half rests on the Bucs for stretching the parameters of acceptable risk.

It's all water under the bridge.

 

[rogdochar]

Most victims of Alzheimer's bring no fame to the table. Perhaps, when those with famous ties suffer AD more funds will flow. All help much needed. God bless Scott and his loved-ones. Most brain diseases are not preventable - yet.

 

[rogdochar]

Hope ?? Scientists have developed a vaccine that prevents, even reverses AD = in mice. In the human trials that vaccine caused equivalent brain negatives in other ways in too many human subjects. Let them refine things in the vaccine direction.

Good spot to explain stuff about all this type research. The mice they experiment on are trans-generated mice: i.e. they are "given" the target disease, so they have "man-made" AD disease not naturally slow process AD. That's a weak-point and of course mice are not the same species. Anyway, there is some guidance to be gained that leads to human treatment breakthroughs. It is the best path we've got. Time is the problem. If we could race ahead into the future, we'd be dazzled by the miracle cures our kids & grandkids will be rescued by. Such is the great positive path of mankind.

 

[78]

Hey, Gulfstream, did I say something that wasn't true?

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Sometimes I forget that Rog is a Doc then he goes all Doc-ish on us.

 

[rogdochar]

Sometimes I forget that Rog is a Doc then he goes all Doc-ish on us.

Rogheimer's ?

 

[Jack o' Diamonds]

Rogheimer's ?

Probably "swampheimers".

 

[InstiGATOR1]

Rogheimer's ?

Donkeyheimer's or you could use a synonym of donkey!

 

[Theologator]

I’ve met Scot on several occasions and was a regular caller to his various shows back in the 90’s. I’m very sorry to know his symptoms are worsening. My mother in law - who never played a down of football - was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 57 and died at 63. A classmate and friend (not a football player) had a similar diagnosis and death from it.

I’ve talked a lot with an MD friend who is skeptical about the meta narrative on this. He showed me a slide from a conference he attended 2-3 years ago that said football is the 7th leading cause of concussions among high school sports. #1 is girls’ hockey.

My dad played college football. I played football and had 3 major concussions as a child (falling out of trees, off the roof, etc.) I’ve known hundreds of football players. None of them suffer from CTE. These stories are sad but it isn’t epidemic.

John Reaves was an alcoholic and addict. He would look for any excuse to blame besides his own decisions.

 

[Tunaboat]

I've always said that Scott Brantley was the hardest hitting linebacker I've ever seen. I also remember when he had to quit playing for the Gators; even Bobby Bowden stopped his Sunday highlight show and sent a personal message to Scott about how sorry he was to hear the news. I always watched both shows on Sunday and was surprised to hear our biggest rival coach pay homage like that. Never thought that being careful back then making him quit football would not prevent early onset Alzheimers now. Damn I feel terrible for Scott Brantley. My mother died of AD and I've often thought of what I would do if given the same news.

 

[78]

I’ve met Scot on several occasions and was a regular caller to his various shows back in the 90’s. I’m very sorry to know his symptoms are worsening. My mother in law - who never played a down of football - was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 57 and died at 63. A classmate and friend (not a football player) had a similar diagnosis and death from it.

I’ve talked a lot with an MD friend who is skeptical about the meta narrative on this. He showed me a slide from a conference he attended 2-3 years ago that said football is the 7th leading cause of concussions among high school sports. #1 is girls’ hockey.

My dad played college football. I played football and had 3 major concussions as a child (falling out of trees, off the roof, etc.) I’ve known hundreds of football players. None of them suffer from CTE. These stories are sad but it isn’t epidemic.

John Reaves was an alcoholic and addict. He would look for any excuse to blame besides his own decisions.

Not real clear on the message. Are you and your physician friend doubting Brantley's downfall is football related?

 

[Double Gator Dad]

I played against Scot in high school and he was a force.
Although I was a senior and he was only a sophomore, he was by far the best player on the field and there were several D-1 players on the two teams.
He hit you like his life depended on it and I have no doubt that the intensity he played with contributed to his current situation.

I wish him all the best. He is a great gator and a very good guy

 

[rogdochar]

The complete etiology of all brain diseases is not decided.

 

[Theologator]

Not real clear on the message. Are you and your physician friend doubting Brantley's downfall is football related?

I’m not a doctor and haven’t spoken to my friend about Scot specifically. What bothers me is the meta-narrative on this that Joe Henderson (who I read for decades) tapped into. I don’t think it is right. I tend to react against that when I see it.