Ex Denver Bronco Lineman goes nuts - Has fluid on brain

[Dr Pain]

Ex-NFL DL Bannan arrested on attempted murder charge | Daily Mail Online

"Former NFL defensive lineman Justin Bannan faces attempted murder and assault charges after shooting a woman at his Colorado office and telling police the Russian mafia was after him."

"As he was being driven to the police station, Bannan told the officers he suffered from hydrocephalus, a disorder in which fluid builds up in brain cavities. He then told police he got rid of his cell phone because someone was using it to track him, adding that he had a 'significant story' to tell."

Just sad

 

[Froob]

Hypocritical of me, but I can't see letting future kids of mine play football. This CTE **** is becoming increasingly scary by the year.

 

[venecol]

Yup this CTE crap is for real. Makes you fear for beloved players like Gronk, Welker, JE, who went/go all out ballin.

I hope Gronk only steps on a football field as an announcer from now on.

 

[XLIX]

He then told police he got rid of his cell phone because someone was using it to track him,

Well he’s right about that part... apple, google, Facebook.... they know where you are.

 

[Wax Frog]

Yup this CTE crap is for real. Makes you fear for beloved players like Gronk, Welker, JE, who went/go all out ballin.

I hope Gronk only steps on a football field as an announcer from now on.

This. This is exactly why, esp. after hearing his tales of multiple concussions and head squishiness, I want Gronk nowhere near football contact, much as I miss him.

 

[Triumph]

Cell phones do track your movements.

 

[upstater1]

This is not to downplay CTE at all but I was talking to a neurologist friend recently who believes that although CTE can trigger negative outcomes in people with already compromised autonomic and immune systems, it is likely not the sole cause of problems like you see here with Bannan. He believes even if you eradicated one contributor like CTE, you'd still have so much dysfunction in certain athletes especially if they were taking peptides, NSAIDs, cortisone (an immune suppressor) etc., over their careers, not to mention the heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria we have in our systems from our industrial and natural environment. This largely explains it in his opinion because CTE is likely more common than we know, and that many people live with it, somewhat impaired bu not pathological or even depressed. The problem is that we ingest so many things toxic to us and we live in toxic environments, so that the combination of all of this wreaks havoc on our systems (limbic, adrenal, autonomic, immune).

 

[catent]

This is not to downplay CTE at all but I was talking to a neurologist friend recently who believes that although CTE can trigger negative outcomes in people with already compromised autonomic and immune systems, it is likely not the sole cause of problems like you see here with Bannan. He believes even if you eradicated one contributor like CTE, you'd still have so much dysfunction in certain athletes especially if they were taking peptides, NSAIDs, cortisone (an immune suppressor) etc., over their careers, not to mention the heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria we have in our systems from our industrial and natural environment. This largely explains it in his opinion because CTE is likely more common than we know, and that many people live with it, somewhat impaired bu not pathological or even depressed. The problem is that we ingest so many things toxic to us and we live in toxic environments, so that the combination of all of this wreaks havoc on our systems (limbic, adrenal, autonomic, immune).

Your friend obviously has more experience and expertise than I do but I'm not totally sure about that theory. Certainly those other drugs play some role, but I suspect it's something like 90%-95%+ CTE. Perhaps the presence of those other drugs/variables increases the likelihood of one developing CTE.

Opioids and steroids definitely take a toll on the body/brain, but there are countless people who abuse drugs or take prescribed drugs for extended periods time and don't unravel as rapidly and severely as those with CTE do.

Needless to say, those aforementioned people may deal with various issues such as depression, immune system problems, addiction, cognitive problems, etc., but generally if they cease using those drugs/prescriptions for an extended period of time they can recover to some new normal with time and the mental/physical decline ceases and they can improve their condition.

It seems the distinction with CTE is that there is no recovery or improvement; it's a steady decline and degeneration mentally and physically, because the brain tissue literally undergoes atrophy.

Maybe we'll discover some form of therapy in the future that reverses this CTE-related atrophy, but so long as the brain is literally decaying (for whatever reason) you're going to see a steady decline until death, be it natural or suicide.

My main point is that drug-induced brain issues seem to cease and reverse (in most cases) when the drugs are stopped for an extended period of time. That doesn't seem to be the case with CTE, although as I said, hopefully a therapy can be discovered that can reverse CTE.

 

[203Pat]

Just found out we are having a boy. A few years ago I would have scoffed at the notion of not letting my future kid play football. Now I am not so sure.

 

[upstater1]

Your friend obviously has more experience and expertise than I do but I'm not totally sure about that theory. Certainly those other drugs play some role, but I suspect it's something like 90%-95%+ CTE. Perhaps the presence of those other drugs/variables increases the likelihood of one developing CTE.

Opioids and steroids definitely take a toll on the body/brain, but there are countless people who abuse drugs or take prescribed drugs for extended periods time and don't unravel as rapidly and severely as those with CTE do.

Needless to say, those aforementioned people may deal with various issues such as depression, immune system problems, addiction, cognitive problems, etc., but generally if they cease using those drugs/prescriptions for an extended period of time they can recover to some new normal with time and the mental/physical decline ceases and they can improve their condition.

It seems the distinction with CTE is that there is no recovery or improvement; it's a steady decline and degeneration mentally and physically, because the brain tissue literally undergoes atrophy.

Maybe we'll discover some form of therapy in the future that reverses this CTE-related atrophy, but so long as the brain is literally decaying (for whatever reason) you're going to see a steady decline until death, be it natural or suicide.

My main point is that drug-induced brain issues seem to cease and reverse (in most cases) when the drugs are stopped for an extended period of time. That doesn't seem to be the case with CTE, although as I said, hopefully a therapy can be discovered that can reverse CTE.

It's not that all these things take a toll on the brain. They take a toll on the body. You can have all sorts of mental effects when your brain is 100% in tact, no damage, no infection. Steroids, for instance, lower immunity. A lot. This makes people susceptible to neuropathy due to bacteria. This can mess with your blood pressure, adrenal glands, it can take your cortisol (anxiety, stress) sky-high or make it very low. His point was simply that in his line of work, he sees a lot of people who are having cognitive dysfunction and it rarely if ever is just one thing. If it were, it could be treated more easily. Even CTE (can be treated). But he says the problems arise when the illness is multifaceted.

 

[Kontradiction]

This is likely to be Gronk’s future. Stay retired, big man. You have a good job now and you’re not even that good at it.

 

[mosi]

This is not to downplay CTE at all but I was talking to a neurologist friend recently who believes that although CTE can trigger negative outcomes in people with already compromised autonomic and immune systems, it is likely not the sole cause of problems like you see here with Bannan. He believes even if you eradicated one contributor like CTE, you'd still have so much dysfunction in certain athletes especially if they were taking peptides, NSAIDs, cortisone (an immune suppressor) etc., over their careers, not to mention the heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria we have in our systems from our industrial and natural environment. This largely explains it in his opinion because CTE is likely more common than we know, and that many people live with it, somewhat impaired bu not pathological or even depressed. The problem is that we ingest so many things toxic to us and we live in toxic environments, so that the combination of all of this wreaks havoc on our systems (limbic, adrenal, autonomic, immune).

Nothing is absolute. Sure there will be people with CTE that are perfectly fine and die with it. Every single man above 80 will have prostate cancer yet few will die from it. 99% of people infected with the polio virus never have any neurological problems. Biology, for the most part, is not absolute.

Drugs could impact people with CTE. But approved drugs leave the system after a period of time. That is a basic pharmacological principle of all FDA approved agents. Thus, I don't think there use per sea impacts these people as much as the CTE.

Going to go off the deep end here, but throughout history, people have often sacrificed their own health for the entertainment of others. We humans love violence. And yes, there is archeological data that suggests that gladiators were admired and looked upon in a manner similar to todays sports stars. There is also evidence to suggest that yesterdays gladiators were more akin to WWE athletes than the stuff in movies.

 

[venecol]

This is not to downplay CTE at all but I was talking to a neurologist friend recently who believes that although CTE can trigger negative outcomes in people with already compromised autonomic and immune systems, it is likely not the sole cause of problems like you see here with Bannan. He believes even if you eradicated one contributor like CTE, you'd still have so much dysfunction in certain athletes especially if they were taking peptides, NSAIDs, cortisone (an immune suppressor) etc., over their careers, not to mention the heavy metals and pathogenic bacteria we have in our systems from our industrial and natural environment. This largely explains it in his opinion because CTE is likely more common than we know, and that many people live with it, somewhat impaired bu not pathological or even depressed. The problem is that we ingest so many things toxic to us and we live in toxic environments, so that the combination of all of this wreaks havoc on our systems (limbic, adrenal, autonomic, immune).

If you're trying to say there's a ton of crazy people out there regardless of CTE, I agree.

 

[borg]

Cell phones do track your movements.

And never fu*% with the Russian mafia

 

[Vindicate]

Well, with the whole Tau protein bundling correlation in CTE, it's no wonder this stuff happens. Basically heavily mimics dementia/ Alzheimer's. Your brain basically starts to erode...

**** is scary, man. Every few months I think of someone like Javon Belcher, and it wrecks my heart. My kid will definitely not play this sport.

Edit - also, while on this soapbox, sports organizations are just dark in general. Even reading the accounts of like, the Patriots locker room with Hernandez and him being weird... It's just like "What the f*** is going on here?" - and there's so much that's way worse than that.

 

[fxmallon]

We're also just learning that many NBA players suffer from sleep deprivation which causes bad play, off nights, injuries, and shortened careers. Many now go to sleep specialists to learn to sleep effectively on the road. It seems that it's such an intense game that players cannot calm down after getting back to the hotel or a plane, so they end up 3-5 hours sleep, and are often pretty groggy during back-to-back games. Lebron James carries black out curtains wherever he goes to try to maintain some semblance of a regular sleep pattern. All these sleep-deprived seem to be very susceptible to jet lag which compounds the problem.

 

[Drewski]

Hypocritical of me, but I can't see letting future kids of mine play football. This CTE **** is becoming increasingly scary by the year.

My wife has already stated our son will not be playing football because of it; he's 3.5 years old.

He's left handed (neither of us are, there are no left handed people on my side of the gene pool) so I guess if we "push" him towards a sport, it would be baseball...where they pay fat nonathletic left handed pitchers the big bucks and you have next to no potential for brain issues.

Then again, he could be into singing, dancing and theater (he loves musicals like his older sister), so it could be a moot point.

 

[SBLIII]

Hypocritical of me, but I can't see letting future kids of mine play football. This CTE **** is becoming increasingly scary by the year.

Feels weird rooting so deeply for a football team and then that but I understand where you are coming from.

And then we have people claiming football is becoming 'soft'

 

[Joey007]

This is not to downplay CTE at all but I was talking to a neurologist friend recently who believes that although CTE can trigger negative outcomes in people with already compromised autonomic and immune systems, it is likely not the sole cause of problems like you see here with Bannan.

I won’t jump to any conclusions because I haven’t done enough research myself on this case.

But people do need to at least recognize that out of the hundreds of thousands of NFL players who have played the game, there are bound to be numerous players that have mental issues not caused by football.

Obviously there are many cases where it appears that football was the cause, so it needs to be addressed in that regards from a big picture viewpoint. But I don’t like it when everyone immediately points to football being the cause every time a former player goes nuts. You don’t know every individual situation.

 

[Joey007]

Just found out we are having a boy. A few years ago I would have scoffed at the notion of not letting my future kid play football. Now I am not so sure.

Maybe I’ll change my mind as time goes on, but I’m ultimately going to let my kid enjoy his life and let him live out whatever his passion may be. If that’s playing football, then so be it. What’s the point of life if you’re not doing that?

You can find reasons to not do anything in life. There will be risk at every corner.