Chris Nowinski: Can I have your brain? The quest for truth on concussions and CTE
Chris Nowinski: Kann ich Ihr Gehirn haben? Die Suche nach der Wahrheit über Commotio und CTE
Dr. Chris Nowinski is leading a global conversation on concussions, CTE and the future of sports. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
in den letzten 5 Jahren getroffen haben,
if you've met me in the last five years
nach einigen Minuten
a bit of an odd question:
if you don't know my story
wenn Sie meine Geschichte nicht kennen,
and I was an athlete
und war Sportler.
to play football at Harvard University.
angeworben zu werden.
wie die meisten Harvard-Absolventen,
like most Harvard graduates,
von "Monday Night Raw"
from Monday Night Raw in 2002 and 2003,
beim Spielen der Figur,
affectionately like to call
der Ivy League-Snob" nannten.
Bubba Ray Dudley gegen den Kopf
by my colleague Bubba Ray Dudley,
schwere Gehirnerschütterung.
permanent postconcussion symptoms:
postkommotionellen Syndrom:
depression, feeling in a fog.
Depression und Benebeltsein.
herauszufinden,
how could I make this pain go away.
die notwendigen Antworten,
the answers I needed from doctors,
into the medical literature.
in medizinischer Literatur.
this whole story about concussions
über Gehirnerschütterungen erzählt.
Football's Concussion Crisis",
Football's Concussion Crisis"
it's not really just about concussions.
um Gehirnerschütterungen geht.
chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.
chronische traumatische Enzephalopathie.
because we only knew about it from boxers.
und war nur von Boxern bekannt.
zu viele Kopfschläge bewirken,
too many times with boxers
start to rot, to degenerate.
wie Gedächtnisprobleme,
and problems with cognition,
control issues, aggression.
were studied for this disease.
auf diese Krankheit untersucht wurden.
dass beide sie hatten.
50 years old, already had dementia.
der bereits an Demenz erkrankt war.
45 years old when he took his life.
der 45 Jahre alt war,
decided to look at their brains
untersuchte ihre Gehirne
viel Aufsehen erregen.
a big deal out of it.
nach den ersten zwei positiven Fällen
the first two cases came in positive,
news story about this,
über diese Fälle von CTE im Football.
with these cases of CTE.
November 20, 2006.
es war der 20. November 2006:
just took his life.
gerade das Leben genommen.
Ich wuchs mit Andre Waters auf.
I grew up watching.
der Philadelphia Eagles
a Division II football coach
war [44] Jahre alt,
his nickname was Dirty Waters.
an seinen Spitznamen "Dirty Waters".
mit dem Kopf zu lenken.
über Gehirnerschütterungen sprach.
about the concussions he had.
where Andre Waters said,
sagte Andre Waters:
meine Gehirnerschütterungen zu zählen.
smelling salts and go back out there."
am Riechsalz und machte weiter."
ob er vielleicht auch CTE hatte,
if he might have CTE, too.
made him choose to end his life.
beigetragen hatte.
zwei Untersuchungen vorgenommen hatte,
who did the first two studies, and I said,
study Andre Waters."
Andre Waters untersuchen."
nicht untersuchen,
died in the county in which I work,
he died in Florida.
you're going to have to figure out
wie ich an das Gehirn komme."
den Gerichtsmediziner an,
the medical examiner
in Florida an und sagte:
in Florida, and I said,
have the brain of Andre Waters?"
noch Andre Waters' Gehirn?"
study him for CTE?"
auf CTE untersuchen?"
he didn't believe that was a real disease.
für eine echte Krankheit hielt.
do you mind if I have it?"
ich kann es Ihnen nicht geben,
of his next of kin,
der Angehörigen bekommen,
who his next of kin was and ask them,
finden und fragen musste.
Andre Waters's 88-year-old mother.
a breath and I thought,
an 88-year-old grieving mother
eine trauernde 88-jährige Mutter anrufen,
durch Selbstmord verloren hat?"
said, "Don't do it.
für diese arme Frau.
this poor woman through,
in meinem Kopf:
selbst töten und man untersuchen könnte ,
from this disease
prevent this from happening in the future,
in der Zukunft verhindert,
and do something that's very hard."
und etwas sehr Schwieriges tun.
third... no voice mails.
Das dritte Mal ... keine Sprachbox.
was so gracious about the call and said,
Andre Waters' Familie
what happened to Andre.
seines Lebens so stark veränderte."
in the last five years of his life."
dass er CTE hatte.
mit dieser Diagnose.
diagnosed with the disease.
zwischen schwach und schwer.
of three NFL players here.
drei von drei Spielern.
etwas ernster nehmen.
a little bit more serious.
"Concussion Legacy Foundation"
the Concussion Legacy Foundation,
der wegen der Gehirne anrief.
some guy calling for brains.
das beste Forscherteam zusammen,
the best research team I could find.
at the VA here in Boston,
für Veteranen hier in Boston zusammen
how to cure degenerative brain disease,
degenerativen Hirnerkrankungen
by actually studying the brains.
in the world focused on CTE.
unser Zentrum als erstes auf CTE.
offiziell untersucht worden.
and it's my job to get the brains
für Dr. Ann McKee und ihre Hirn-Bank.
and her brain bank, right in the middle.
und Dr. Robert Cantu zusammen,
Dr. Robert Cantu,
of scientists that I support.
aus Forschern, die ich unterstütze.
in those early years.
war ich sehr erfolgreich.
by reading the obituaries.
mit dem Lesen der Todesanzeigen.
poor families that I've been calling
und um die Gehirne bat.
to ask for their brains.
as it started to really eat away at me,
an mir zu nagen, fragte ich mich:
can I find another way
their brains to this research?
ihre Gehirne der Forschung zu spenden?
what if we could create a culture
einer Kultur der Gehirn-Spende aus.
ihr Gehirn nach dem Tod zu spenden?
to donate their brain after they died?
für Gehirn-Spenden.
was a brain donation registry.
ihr Gehirn der Wissenschaft zu spenden.
to donate their brain to science.
a hockey player in 2009.
mit einem Eishockeyspieler.
erhielt ich von Noah Welch,
was a former Harvard hockey player,
der damals in der NHL spielte.
in the NHL at the time.
worum es ging, dauerte es lange.
what this was about.
auf der Titelseite landete:
his brain to science,"
der Forschung sein Gehirn",
to the locker room the next day,
einer seiner Mitspieler
pulled him aside and said,
your brain to science."
dein Gehirn der Forschung?"
How many games are you going to miss?"
Wie viele Spiele wirst du verpassen?"
erfolgreich gewesen.
they keep in their wallet.
den sie in ihrer Brieftasche behalten.
obviously first, it says 01.
war natürlich ich. Hier steht 01.
to have people like Brandi Chastain,
die Ikone des Frauenfußballs,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. zu haben.
Hall-of-Famer Nick Buoniconti
die Football-Legende Nick Buoniconti,
signed up to pledge his brain.
als Gehirnspender an.
and the great thing about it
in changing how we're able to get brains.
wie wir die Gehirne bekommen.
rufen jetzt mehr Familien uns an.
more families call us.
on taking this information,
mithilfe der Informationen auszuknobeln,
towards a cure,
und auf die Vorbeugung hinwirken.
that we've able to get over the years
die wir über die Jahre zu Sportlern,
bekommen konnten.
in the world of this disease
nur 45 Fälle dieser Krankheit,
untersucht worden waren.
über 300 CTE hatten.
100 brains since we started this.
100 Gehirne untersucht, seit wir anfingen.
ist sehr erschreckend.
is very frightening.
the headline in July
die Schlagzeile in der New York Times
NFL players we looked at
untersuchten NFL-Spielern
football players we looked at,
Football-Spielern an Colleges
that's a very big concern to me.
to actually treat this disease?
tatsächlich zu behandeln?
bei lebenden Menschen diagnostizieren
CTE in living people,
that are going to be coming
von der Pharmaindustrie kommt.
in the next five years.
is here to not only facilitate this work,
der Arbeitserleichterung;
hey, we can prevent this.
in the head so much.
auf den Kopf schlägt.
hitting children in the head.
nicht auf den Kopf schlagen.
auf den Kopf eines 5-Jährigen?
to hit a five-year-old in the head
open up the door to this disease.
a lot of work ahead of us.
on our way to curing this disease.
diese Krankheit zu behandeln.
my story a little more now.
jetzt hoffentlich etwas besser.
to know each other a little bit better,
ein wenig besser kennen,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Nowinski - Social entrepreneurDr. Chris Nowinski is leading a global conversation on concussions, CTE and the future of sports.
Why you should listen
Dr. Chris Nowinski is an All-Ivy Harvard football player-turned WWE professional wrestler-turned neuroscientist. He discovered the concussion crisis the hard way: a 2003 kick to the chin in a WWE tag-team match ended his career, causing post-concussion syndrome and sending him on a journey where he uncovered a public health conspiracy that continues to cost lives.
Nowinski wrote the investigative expose Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis in 2006 and soon after founded the non-profit Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF), where he serves as CEO. He co-founded the world-famous Boston University (BU) CTE Center, where he serves as the outreach, recruitment, education, and public policy leader, as well as the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, where he led recruitment for the 2017 study that found 110 of 111 deceased NFL players had CTE. His journey has been profiled in media outlets like HBO's "Real Sports", ESPN's "Outside the Lines" and the New York Times, and he was the subject of the award-winning documentary Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis by celebrated director Steve James.
Nowinski earned his doctorate in behavioral neuroscience from Boston University School of Medicine and has authored more than 25 scientific publications. VICE Sports called Nowinski "the man most responsible for making CTE part of the national conversation," and Sports Illustrated said, "It is Nowinski's figure which looms behind the doctors and the headlines and the debate roiling over sports'newfound commitment to minimizing head trauma."
Chris Nowinski | Speaker | TED.com