On Derek Boogaard and CTE

On Friday, New York Rangers winger and enforcer Derek Boogaard was found not breathing in his Minnesota apartment at 6:15 pm. When paramedics arrived, Boogaard was pronounced dead at the scene. As of this point in time, foul play is not suspected, although it is expected to take two weeks for the autopsy to come back.

Boogaard's sudden death at the age of 27 came while he was getting back into shape after a concussion and a shoulder injury sustained during a fight. At a point in time where the NHL is attempting to limit shots to the head and promote more awareness of concussion symptoms, it would be interesting to see he Boogaard was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Bob Probert, an enforcer who died back in July, suffered from CTE when he died of a heart attack at age 45. Reggie Fleming, another enforcer from back in the 1960's, also had CTE.

CTE, for those who are unaware, is a progressive degenerative disease that is found in individuals who have been subject to multiple concussions and other forms of head injury. CTE is most typically found in people that played football and ice hockey, or were wrestlers or boxers. Symptoms include signs of dementia, such as memory loss, aggression, confusion, and depression - all of which may appear within months of the head trauma, or many years later.

If Boogaard is proven to have suffered from CTE at the time of his death, this leads to many interesting questions. While hockey is inherently a violent sport, there are ways to limit the possibility of sustaining a concussion. The best way would be to make a mouthguard mandatory. In fact, the concept that a custom fitted mouthguard would help to prevent concussions has been around since 1964. A study was conducted over three years that focused on high school athletes with a history of concussions, with these players playing either in college or beyond. The study showed that while the 31 players chosen had approximately 50 concussions prior to wearing the mouthguards, they had only three total while wearing them. Numerous other studies have come to the same conclusion.

While there is no proof at present that Boogaard suffered from CTE, it would not be a surprise. Given the role he played on the teams he played for, he fit the classic profile of someone who would be likely to acquire this disease. Despite this, his family is trying to separate concussions from the reason Boogaard died, until this can be ascertained.

Should Boogaard have been suffering from CTE, and his cause of death was related to it, will this be the stimulus required to get professional sports to take a serious look at concussions? While they pay a lot of lip service to them presently, very little is actually being done to prevent them from occurring. It's pathetic that it may take the death of a player during his career to kick these leagues into action.