Thomas’s analysis is related with “progressive behavior, cognitive and mood abnormalities.” The former NFL star developed melancholy, nervousness, panic assaults and reminiscence points in the years earlier than he died. Stage 4 CTE, essentially the most extreme stage, is usually related with dementia.
“Once I became aware of CTE and began to familiarize myself with the symptoms, I noticed that Demaryius was isolating himself and I saw other changes in him,” Thomas’s mom, Katina Smith, stated in the household’s assertion. (*2*)
Smith and Bobby Thomas, the four-time professional bowler’s father, donated their son’s brain to study after the Concussion Legacy Foundation proposed the thought to the household. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist and director of Boston University’s CTE Center, was part of the analysis staff that studied Thomas’s brain. Per the New York Times, McKee emphasised that Thomas had “two different conditions in parallel,” referring to his seizures and the CTE analysis. McKee, whose staff has diagnosed greater than 300 former NFL gamers with CTE, stated seizures aren’t usually related with early-stage CTE.
Thomas performed for 3 groups throughout his 10 seasons in the NFL, however he’s greatest identified for his 9 years with the Denver Broncos, who chosen Thomas out of Georgia Tech with the twenty second decide in the primary spherical of the 2010 draft. He received a Super Bowl with the Broncos, and was later traded to the Houston Texans halfway via the 2018 season. After a quick stint with the New England Patriots in the next preseason, Thomas completed his profession with the New York Jets and retired in 2021, six months earlier than his loss of life.
Athletes in quite a lot of sports activities together with soccer and ice hockey are prone to brain harm, however Thomas is the most recent NFL participant to have been diagnosed with the degenerative brain illness. It’s been discovered in the brains of Hall of Famers Willie Wood and Junior Seau, in addition to Phillip Adams, the previous NFL participant who final yr killed six individuals in Rock Hill, S.C., and was later diagnosed with Stage 2 CTE.
“Like so many that have gone before, we found Stage 2 CTE in the brain of Demaryius Thomas,” McKee stated. “The question I keep asking myself is ‘When will enough be enough?’ When will athletes, parents and the public at large stop ignoring the risks of American football and insist that the game be changed to reduce subconcussive hits and that the athletes be comprehensively evaluated at the beginning and end of every season?”