08-08-2017, 11:34 PM
(08-08-2017, 10:04 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: But the tau that causes CTE is visible, so I wasn't really being ignorant.
Also, if a brain has suffered enough trauma to have CTE, there would be visible damage.
I actually did read the link but, until now, I didn't really pick up on it to notice what was obviously proving my point.
There was a buildup of tau in the brain scans that is visible before death, and the tau leads to CTE, so no, I'm not wrong, but thanks for making me look it up to prove you wrong.
Here's a link showing healthy tau and damaged tau, which may not show exactly CTE, but it's what causes CTE.
Therefore, you do brain scans, and, if a player is missing tau or it's damaged, you end their career.
The tau protein is only visible when you stain the brain tissue with stains like Congo Red. The only way you're going to get the brain tissue is from the brain of a dead person. If you don't prepare the microscope slide with the chemical stains the tau protein isn't visible.
Brad, this quote is from the Newsweek article you supplied . . .
Quote:Up until this point, scientists have mainly focused their research on amyloid beta proteins, because there is no effective way to image tau.
