A study by the Boston University School of Medicine of the brains of dead athletes and others shows that most showed signs of brain damage after suffering repeated head injuries.

The study published Monday was based on the autopsies of 85 brain donors. Extensive evidence of protein tangles clogging brain tissue were found causing the destruction of brain cells in football players, wrestlers, hockey players, boxers, and military combat veterans.

The research found that 68 of the 85 individuals they examined, all of whom had experienced repeated head trauma, had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The findings were published in the journal Brain.
Co-author Dr. Robert Cantu tells The Boston Globe (http://bo.st/UkaENu ) the study should convince doubters that CTE is a real condition caused by repeat head injuries.