Combat veterans, athletes with brain trauma show similarities

Combat veterans are coming home from war with brain injuries that are often tied to athletes. Since 9-11, more than 300,000 service members  have returned home with brain injuries.

A neuropathologist out of Boston has identified a pattern in deceased veterans she studied.
CTE is a degenerative brain disease most commonly known in athletes who suffer repetitive brain injuries.

Symptoms include depression, impulsive behavior, substance abuse, and anxiety to name a few. 
The 102 veterans studied had different types of head trauma, 66 of those had CTE.

Mayo clinic neuropathologists like Kevin Bieniek are working with brains that have CTE, he says combat trauma is something researchers look for, but right now a diagnosis in living veterans is almost impossible.

"We cannot yet diagnose CTE in someone that is alive, there are ongoing studies to look into different ways to do this."

Cox Media Group