Meghan Holohan
Concussions Linked to Lou Gehrig’s Disease?
by Meghan Holohan - August 23, 2010 - 12:44 PM


Lou Gehrig earned the nickname the Iron Horse for good reason. The baseball player took the field no matter what—with a broken thumb, with a broken toe, while suffering from lumbago or even a concussion. During his career, the slugger experienced at least three concussions, a common injury for professional athletes. Oftentimes athletes continue to play while suffering from a concussion and in recent years former pro athletes frequently have been diagnosed with neurological conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. A recent study published in Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology finds a link between concussions and a disease similar to ALS.

ALS is a rare, rapidly progressing neurological disorder that cripples motor neurons, which tell the body what muscles to move. Impaired motor neurons fail to communicate, leading to an inability to walk, gesture, talk, and eventually breathe. Teammates of Gehrig first noticed a problem when he dragged his feet instead of lifting them to walk. Most patients die from respiratory failure within three to five years of the onset of symptoms.

Ann McKee, associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine, and her colleagues looked at the brain and spinal cord of two former professional football players and one boxer—all of whom had been diagnosed with ALS prior to death. The researchers discovered that all three had very high amounts of a protein TDP-43. The protein lives in the nucleus of nervous system cells, but in the three patients TDP-43 seeped out of the cells, flooding the brain and spinal cord. The excessive amounts of TDP-43 caused symptoms like ALS, but also indicated to researchers that the athletes did not suffer from the disease.

McKee cannot speculate as to whether Gehrig actually suffered from Lou Gehrig’s disease, because she has not examined his body (and there are no plans to do so). But the results confirm a suspicion that repeated head trauma leads to serious neurological conditions, which mimic serious diseases such as ALS or Alzheimer’s.

[Via The New York Times]

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Comments (10)

  1. Strictly from this small article, not surprising at all. Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s like conditions are much more common in athletes like boxers and football players.

    posted by Kris on 8-23-2010 at 1:12 pm

  2. There was an outstanding (as always) report on this very topic on Real Sports this month.

    posted by Rocky on 8-23-2010 at 2:21 pm

  3. This reminds me of an episode of Friends where Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is having trouble getting through movies.

    At one point she says, “…Then I tried watching ‘Pride of the Yankees’, because I figured it was about, you know, Yankee pride. Then, wham! The guy dies of Lou Gehrig’s disease!”

    Richard (Tom Selleck) responds, “The guy WAS Lou Gehrig! Didn’t you see it coming?”

    posted by gmsc on 8-23-2010 at 2:43 pm

  4. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy is a rare condition with similar symptoms and the same tragic ending.

    posted by JL on 8-23-2010 at 3:13 pm

  5. Every disease Lou Gehrig had was Lou Gehrig’s disease. (Seriously, however, the history of head trauma for Lou G. would likely have been better documented in such a public and tragic case. There should have been large numbers of leather helmet football players from his era getting the dubious privilege of this eponymous fatal disease before Lou G.)

    posted by Ken on 8-23-2010 at 7:02 pm

  6. Since mental_flossians are, “in the know,” where would someone who has had multiple concussions go to perhaps participate in studies? Any ideas? And no, not the Mutter…LOL. I mean while someone is still alive and kicking! :)

    posted by Helenann on 8-24-2010 at 10:13 am

  7. @Ken
    It should be pointed out that Lou Gehrig was a leather-helmet wearing football player in college as well, so he may have had even more concussions.

    And if I recall, Gehrig’s remains were cremated, so re-examining the body is not an option.

    posted by Jim on 8-24-2010 at 10:19 am

  8. @Helenann: Many sports medicine departments at medical schools run clinical trials on concussions. But you could look at the NIH’s website http://patientinfo.ninds.nih.gov. The organization keeps a database of clinical trials in need of participants.

    posted by Meghan Holohan on 8-24-2010 at 10:32 am

  9. Why thank you! :)

    posted by Helenann on 8-24-2010 at 3:52 pm

  10. A dear friend passed away in December from this horrible horrible disease. Love ya Man. You are missed my friend.

    posted by Mandy on 8-24-2010 at 5:27 pm

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