Brain Damage | featured news

The union that represents U.S. professional football players has given Harvard University a $100 million grant for a study of the range of health problems, from brain damage to heart conditions, that affect current and former players.

The family of Junior Seau has sued the NFL, claiming the former linebacker's suicide was the result of brain disease caused by violent hits he sustained while playing football....

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy begins when repeated blows to the brain are not allowed to heal. In its later stages, CTE can lead to rage, aggression, paranoia, and suicidal thoughts.

The NFL has pledged $30 million for medical research to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health... Potential areas of research under the grant include the brain, specifically chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), concussion management and treatment, and the understanding of the relationship between traumatic brain injury and late-life neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer's disease.

Eagles defensive tackle Mike Patterson was alert, stable and joking at a hospital after suffering a seizure at training camp at Lehigh University, trainer Rick Burkholder said Wednesday....

For nearly four years, no one knew what caused the rare bacterial infection that left Myles Massey brain-damaged while his twin brother was fine. Now, a lawsuit charges that the infection came from tainted alcohol prep pads made by a shuttered Wisconsin firm.

The first photos of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in January were released on Sunday on her Facebook page. The photos of the Arizona Democrat were taken by a professional photographer the day before her cranioplasty surgery in May.

Gabrielle Giffords is nowhere close to returning to Congress. And there remains real doubt whether she ever will. That appears to be the bottom line of an article Thursday in the Arizona Republic that provides the most complete assessment yet of the wounded congresswoman’s current condition. Giffords was shot in the head by a gunman in Tucson in January. Now, six months later, she still struggles mightily to communicate, although her staff believes her comprehension skills are strong. And it remains unclear just how much damage her brain has suffered.

One in seven strokes happens at night, and sufferers may not get medicine that could prevent brain damage, suggests a new study.

His was a suicide with a macabre twist. In February, former Chicago Bears safety David Duerson shot himself in the chest, but not before leaving behind a note requesting his brain be studied for evidence of a disease striking football players.