Big news for sports and brain health: Scientists at Washington University have found a blood marker, eMTBR-tau243, that could help spot chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living people.
Until now, doctors could only confirm CTE after death by looking at brain tissue.
This breakthrough might help distinguish advanced CTE from healthy people, especially for athletes who take repeated hits to the head.
Advanced CTE shows higher eMTBR-tau243 levels
The study shows that people with advanced CTE have much higher levels of this marker in their blood.
Researchers say eMTBR-tau243 might even help tell CTE apart from other conditions like Alzheimer's.
While it's not a perfect test yet, co-authors Kanta Horie and Chihiro Sato believe it could help identify those most at risk and speed up new treatments.