That knowing about the CTE after the suspect of the New York shooting seems to target the siege of the NFL
The shooter who opened fire in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, killing four people before turning the weapon on himself, left a note mentioning “CTE” on several occasions, said familiar officials with the investigation at NBC News.
The CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a brain affection caused by repeated head injuries, generally for many years.
The shooter was aimed at the siege of the NFL, which is in the Park Avenue building where the shooting took place, the authorities said.
Although the CTE cannot be officially diagnosed without autopsy, a third of the former NFL players suspect that they have the disease, according to a 2024 report. The NFL recognized the link between CTE and football in 2016.
The former NFL player, Phillip Adams, was serious at CTE Severe after having shot down six people before committing suicide in South Carolina in 2021.
NBC News spoke with Dr. Aaron Lord, head of neurology of Nyu Langone who specializes in brain lesions, on the way CTE changes the brain and the behavior of a person.
What is chronic traumatic encephalopathy?
Characterized for the first time in boxers, the condition was called “drunk punch syndrome” and can cause neurological conditions, in particular early dementia, memory disorders, personality changes and movement disorders similar to Parkinson’s disease, said Lord.
The CTE can affect anyone who suffers repeated head injuries.
“These are just repetitive brain waves in the brain,” he said.
The bond of the condition for suicide and suicidal ideas is an active field of study, in part because there seems to be a higher rate of CTE than expected in high caliber athletes who have committed suicide, said Lord.
However, experts did not draw any conclusion on “the impact and prevalence of this disease in the population or among specific athletes,” he said.
“This is a new one that we are still defining,” he said.
How is CTE diagnosed?
Without autopsy, doctors cannot diagnose CTE, and even then it can be difficult to identify because there are no specific criteria for diagnosing it, said Lord. Autopsy must reveal evidence of tissue degeneration and abnormal tufts of certain proteins around the blood vessels in the brain.
Some patients and their doctors may assume that they have the disease due to notable changes in their mood and behavior. Patients also know if they have suffered from the head, how much to what extent.
Lord said that a brain MRI of the patients concerned could reveal certain changes compatible with the disease, but this is not enough for a diagnosis.
There is some overlap of symptoms with psychiatric disorders, including a major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, said Lord.
Lord has also seen a link between patients with CTE and homicide ideas and impulsiveness as well as other personality changes.
The Lord tends to see the disease in the elderly, perhaps because of the previous repeated impacts, but even a blow to the head can cause damage, even if this trauma does not cause CTE.
“Even someone who has just participated in a single car accident and who has injured the frontal lobes of his brain can have permanent personality changes and impulsive control and psychiatric changes,” he said.
Is there treatment for CTE?
Although there is no direct treatment for the disease, psychiatric drugs can help control behavior and other symptoms, said Lord.
According to the Mayo clinic. Prevention is the best medication: to avoid head trauma using safety belts or helmets can reduce the risk of obtaining a CTE and other intestines, said Lord.
