Brain disease linked to head injuries diagnosed in female athlete for first time

The world's first case of the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, has been found in a female athlete, researchers said.

Heather Anderson, an Australian Football League player, was found to be in the early stages of the disease, according to a research report published in Acta Neuropathologica by scientists who performed her autopsy. CTE can only be diagnosed posthumously — Anderson died by suicide last November at the age of 28.

CTE is described by the Mayo Clinic as "a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries," which "causes the death of nerve cells in the brain" and can lead to cognitive impairment, motor problems, and mood disorders. Up until now, CTE has only been diagnosed and observed in male athletes, but the report said the rise in female contact sports will likely lead to more diagnoses.

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"As the representation of women in professional contact sports is growing, it seems likely that more CTE cases will be identified in female athletes," the report said. "Given females' greater susceptibility to concussion, there is an urgent need to recognize the risks, and to institute strategies and policies to minimize traumatic brain injuries in increasingly popular female contact sports."

Anderson began playing Australian rules football when she was five years old, The New York Times reported. She played professionally in Australia's top league before a shoulder injury ended her career in 2017 at the age of 23. Her father, Brian Anderson, told ABC Australia, "Now that this report has been published, I'm sort of trying to think about how it might play out for female sportspeople everywhere."

"I don't think any child should be playing the contact version of a sport before high school," Michael Buckland, the report's co-author, told CNN, adding that women's contact sports need to implement measures to combat head injuries.