http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpL6a_7pFzE
Chronic
traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was first diagnosed in an NFL player in
2002, and it has since been confirmed by postmortem examination in
dozens of American athletes. The physician who made the initial
discovery, forensic neuropathologist Bennet I. Omalu, MD, MBA, MPH,
overcame massive efforts to discredit him and his research, and today
CTE is widely recognized as a health risk in millions of patients with
histories of repetitive brain trauma, including military veterans. The
AMA on Saturday honored Dr. Omalu with its Distinguished Service Award
during the opening session of the 2016 AMA Interim Meeting, in Orlando,
Fla.
Dr.
Omalu was working as a forensic neuropathologist in Pittsburgh when he
conducted postmortem examinations of former NFL offensive lineman Mike
Webster’s brain and spotted what would become the hallmarks of CTE.
“[W]hen
I looked at his brain and he had diffuse amyloid plaques everywhere and
there were no neuritic plaques … I took the slides home with me,” Dr.
Omalu said in a 2015 interview. "I spent six months with those slides. I
saw tau randomly situated, and not reminiscent of any other dementia
that I knew. My first reaction, when I went to the literature, was that I
expected to find previous reports like this, but I didn’t find even
one.”
He had the case published in 2005 and went on to identify CTE in postmortem examinations of numerous other former NFL players.
Dr.
Omalu initially thought the league would be pleased to learn of his
findings, but when they were presented at an NFL meeting on concussions
in 2007, they were dismissed, and the league—through lawyers, physicians
and other experts—went on to mount a coordinated effort to discredit
Dr. Omalu and his research.
At the time, the Nigerian-born Dr.
Omalu was not a U.S. citizen, and his immigration status was dependent
on his continued employment. He stuck to his findings in the face of
intense pressure, and in 2009—seven years after his discovery—the NFL
relented and publicly acknowledged the link between concussions
sustained in football and CTE.
“Because of the service Dr. Omalu
has rendered to every player and every family member in the football and
other sporting communities, I am delighted to present him, on behalf of
the AMA, with the Distinguished Service Award—our highest honor,” AMA
President Andrew W. Gurman, MD, said in a statement. “His meritorious
service is all the more remarkable given that Dr. Omalu was relatively
junior at the time of his discovery, having only completed his pathology
residency a few years prior to describing CTE.”
Dr. Gurman said
he strongly believes “that Dr. Omalu—by his work, determination and
dedication—strongly exemplifies the best of American medicine.”
Nominated
by the AMA Board of Trustees and endorsed by the House of Delegates,
the Distinguished Service Award recognizes a member of the AMA for
meritorious service in the science and art of medicine.
A 20-year member of the AMA, Dr. Omalu attended medical school at the University of Nigeria Nsukka at 16.
He became a U.S. citizen in 2015 and now serves as chief medical
examiner for the San Joaquin County Coroner’s Office in California and
is a clinical associate professor in the University of California,
Davis, Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
The
story of Dr. Omalu’s CTE research and the pressure he faced from the
NFL inspired the 2015 film “Concussion,” in which he was portrayed by
Will Smith.
At the 2016 AMA interim Meeting, delegates will
consider urging further research into the causes and potential
treatments for CTE. There is a high burden of risk of CTE in the U.S.,
with an estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million concussions occurring each
year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Research at institutions such as the Boston University CTE Center is
investigating methods for antemortem diagnosis of CTE. The symptoms of
CTE—which include worsening attention, concentration and memory—are
insidious, sometimes occurring more than 10 years after the inciting
event.
https://wire.ama-assn.org/ama-news/physician-who-discovered-cte-nfl-players-gets-ama-s-highest-honor
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