Quote:
Originally Posted by ptourkin
They can only study the brains that have been donated. As stated, the percentage of those that are positive for CTE is staggering.
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On this you are wrong. They could have (and absolutely should have) easily obtained age matched control brain tissue from any of several "brain banks" to be studied along with the football brains. Likewise the brains need to be examined by several different neuropathologists to help eliminate observer bias. The chief investigator runs a center dedicated to CTE research. She has a very strong self-interest to produce results that enhance her center's funding. This is unavoidable and normal but because of it she has an ethical and scientific obligation to be sure those findings are scientifically valid and reproducible. Unless a trial design accounts for observer biases (be they conscious or unconscious) the trial's results are likely to fail this test.
All that said, I have not yet seen the study methods published so perhaps my skepticism is misguided.
To be clear, my intent is not to minimize any concerns about traumatic head injury ( I have no doubt it is an underestimated risk) nor defend the sport of football (which I do not follow).....I only cringe when poor science is sensationalized.