A blood test may help in the future to identify a serious brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head, according to a new study reported by the Associated Press.
Washington University researcher in St. Louis has identified a fragment of the tau protein, called eMTBR-tau243, that can serve as a biological indicator of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE.
This disease has been linked to repeated exposure to headshots and has attracted particular attention due to cases documented by former sports officials with physical contact.
Currently, CTE can only be confirmed after death through brain testing.
In the new study, biological indicators were higher in people with advanced diseases, but the method failed to reliablely identify early stages.
Researchers point out that the results are preliminary and should be confirmed in much larger studies.
The discovery may open new ways for future diagnosis, but there is still no clinically tested blood test for CTE diagnosis in living persons.
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