Making an effort to have Chris Benoit's brain examined for signs of post concussion syndrome

[Bix]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/us/27wre...and&emc=rss

 

But Christopher Nowinski, a former professional wrestler who worked with Mr. Benoit, and who was forced to quit because of head injuries, said he believed that repeated, untreated concussions might have caused his friend to snap.

 

“He was one of the only guys who would take a chair shot to the back of the head,” Mr. Nowinski said, “which is stupid.”

 

Mr. Nowinski has written a book called “Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis” (Drummond Publishing Group, 2006), about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition that can cause memory loss, depression and “bizarre, paranoid behavior.”

 

Mr. Nowinski said that he had been trying to persuade the coroner examining Mr. Benoit to allow a brain exam to look for the telltale neurofibrillary tangles in the brain’s cortex, but that he had thus far been rebuffed.

 

“Part of me hopes there was something wrong with his brain,” Mr. Nowinski said. “The Chris Benoit I knew was always more concerned about everybody else’s well-being than his own.”

The main points:

 

- The case has been moved up from Fayetteville county office to the State level, so disgregard anything about Dr. Mowell.

- Chris Nowinski didn't talk to to the ME's office personally, the doctor who works with him did.

- They will have the samples of various parts of the brain, so no worry about it being destroyed soon.

- We should wait until tomorrow morning as Chris Nowinski is trying to get it done through normal channels.

- If nothing has happened by then, we should start doing what we can.

- It might not be the best idea to directly contact the state's coroner, so they don't construe anything as harrassment or get lots of calls from idiots. This also depends on if anything happens by the morning. The best move RIGHT NOW seems to be going through the media (wrestling & mainstream).

- If the coroner has to send the tissue to an outside laboratory for the testing as opposed to doing it on-site, they would need the family's permission.

 

Christopher Nowinski's website has a ton of articles about post-concussion syndrome.

[Bix]

Also, if anyone wants to help draft something to send out, that would be awesome. I have a little something, but something more formal would be great.

 

Please Digg the story so we can get it as much attention as possible.

[Bix]

By the way, the initial post has been edited to clarify some things, so if you're spreading it around, keep that in mind and edit accordingly.

[Bix]

Thanks to Matthew Webb for writing this up for me:

 

There is, we feel, a serious issue that needs to be addressed in connection with the Benoit family tragedy. Professional wrestling is a dangerous occupation and with that danger comes inherent risk. Chris Benoit wrestled a high impact style that often put his body at risk, the effects of which, will likely have mounted up over the course of his twenty-year career. In particular, Mr. Benoit’s style of wrestling will have caused inevitable damage to the head, possibly resulting in a number of concussions over his career as a professional wrestler. It is therefore very possible that Mr. Benoit could have been suffering from a mild form of traumatic brain injury known as Post-concussion Syndrome (PCS). The symptoms of PCS are numerous and include irritability, depression, lack of ability to tolerate stress, mood swings, impaired judgement and/or cognition, and slowed cognitive processing. Former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski has carried out extensive work and research on the subject of PCS and has stated that he believes that repeated, untreated head injuries could be a major factor that contributed to Mr. Benoit’s actions.

 

The only way to conclusively know whether PCS played any part in Mr. Benoit’s actions is for his brain to be examined for telltale neurofibrillary tangles in the brain’s cortex. Approaches have been made to the coroner in charge of the case, but have so far been denied. We believe that PCS could hold the answers to the many questions raised by the tragedy that occurred over the weekend. However the only way that we can know for sure is for a brain exam to occur. PCS has been found to contribute to the untimely deaths of a number of professional sportsmen over the years, in particular those players exposed to high-impact, physical contact. Mr. Nowinski initiated an inquiry in to the death of 44-year old Andre Waters, a former defensive back in the NFL. Mr. Waters was found by a neuropathologist to have had suffered brain damage from playing football, which lead to his depression and ultimately his suicide. Former WWE and WCW wrestler Bret Hart was also confirmed as a sufferer of PCS, due to a number of head injuries sustained over the last few weeks of his career. The syndrome caused his retirement in 2000 and two years later he sustained another head injury, which caused him to suffer a stroke and partial paralysis at the age of 44.

 

PCS is a serious and potentially deadly problem. We urge people to campaign for the state coroner to perform a neurological exam to determine whether it was a factor in this past weekend’s tragedy. The Benoit family tragedy should not be excused, however we do hope that by looking into the possibility of PCS some light can be shed on the reasons for the events that occurred inside the Benoit residence. Therefore we urge those investigating the case to pursue every avenue, and those who are concerned with it to support us in our determined search for the truth. We may never know the full story of what occurred this past weekend, however we can hope to discover the factors that contributed towards this horrific event and make steps toward preventing future tragedies.

[Loss]

Have you received any responses yet?

[Guest teke184]

Pro Wrestling Talk's news bit asking about the concussion connection

 

BENOIT SITUATION RAISES QUESTIONS FOR NFL, WRESTLING

 

We've received some great e-mails this week from readers who have raised some interesting issues in the wake of the murder-suicide involving pro wrestler Chris Benoit.

 

From the perspective of pro wrestling, did multiple concussions suffered in the ring contribute to the condition that caused Benoit to snap?

 

From the perspective of the NFL, how much does the steroids issue contribute to the difficulties currently experienced by former players suffering from a broad variety of physical and/or emotional maladies?

 

At a time when baseball has been the primary focal point of discussions regarding the use and abuse of steroids, it's easy to forget that, in past years, the use of such substances was rampant in the NFL. So now that the players who were part of the steroids era are experiencing problems with their bodies and their brains, we think it's more than fair to consider whether the current condition of former players is due in whole or in part to past performance enhancement activities.

 

Though we're not suggesting that currently disabled players who used steroids, and whose present health problems might be due to doing so, aren't entitled to NFL disability benefits, their plight becomes far less sympathetic if it can be determined that they would be doing better in their post-football lives if they hadn't used them.

 

Of course, the NFL and NFLPA public relations machine can't employ this device in the ongoing feud with former players, since to do so could cause all sorts of unwanted complications. For years, the NFL has somehow avoided the steroids stigma; using the subject as a stick against former players could finally pry open that can of juiced-up worms.

 

From pro wrestling's perspective, suspicions of steroids use is the knee-jerk public reaction to any bizarre behavior that occurs, primarily because use of the substances has never been regulated by the "sport". But at a time when the NFL is learning more than it might care to regarding the consequences of concussions, it's hard not at least consider the possibility that Benoit's behavior arose in part from a brain that has been banged around for years.

 

Resolution of these issues is for the medical experts. But even if steroids use doesn't cause bodies to later break down and/or noggins to malfunction, it doesn't take a Norman Einstein to understand that guys who are hepped up on roids will be more willing to ignore their own short-term and long-term health in the name of getting onto the field or into the ring, and to absorb any further bodily punishment that goes along with it.

[Bix]

NORMAN EINSTEIN?

[Guest teke184]

NORMAN EINSTEIN?

It's an in-joke to something stupid said by QB / ESPN commentator Joe Theisman in the past...

 

Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein.

Joe Theismann, Former quarterback

 

 

There was a link to the actual quote in the article, but the HTML didn't come across as part of the cut-and-paste.

 

 

I personally prefer the "It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out. *LARRY* Holmes could figure that one out." quote from Fletch Lives instead.

[Bix]

Gotcha.

 

Meanwhile, I'm holding off on doing much for it right now because there may be some things happening independently.

 

Meanwhile, an excellent post from Tom K. addressing the idea of not doing it because it may cause fans to further lionize Benoit since there would be a "reason":

 

Traumatic brain injuries are misunderstood, misdiagnosed and crazily underfunded.

 

The amount of actual information we have on traumatic brain injuries is ridiculously poor.

 

More than a quarter of the folks at Walter Reed have traumatic brain injuries, but I went through two of the military protocol papers to make sure a friend was getting the right care and there really isn't alot in place. Less in terms of procedures for rehab and helping families post-brain injury.

 

If idiot fans who need "excuse so they can go on looking up to Benoit and watching wrestling" help force more research...you shouldn't turn them away because you don't like their motives.

 

Teddy Roosevelt and a bunch of turn of the century furries caused mining safety laws to be passed and in the long run lead to the end of child mine labor. They did it nnot because of any care for labor but because they only cared about the horses that were being used in the mines.

 

Good legislation often gets pushed as result of questionable motives.

[Loss]

Finding a reason and finding an excuse shouldn't be confused. Regardless of whether or not Benoit has post-concussion syndrome, his actions are not somehow less evil. If he had the syndrome, he developed it because of choices he made where he purposely put himself at risk. In the end, it all comes back to choices Chris Benoit made with his body and choices he made to murder his family, *even if* PCS caused him to go insane.

 

However, there is still value in doing this. There have been two suicides in wrestling in the last four months. Both of them were from wrestlers who had history of taking unprotected head shots, and both of them hung themselves. This is a pattern I don't think anyone would like to see continue. If the brains of Mike Awesome and Chris Benoit can be compared to each other, and it is determined that both wrestlers were suffering from PCS, that is hugely valuable.

 

PCS research, from my understanding, is still in its infancy. Having Benoit's brain examined, and the results of the research, could increase the available information on PCS and could potentially (potentially) cause changes for the better in the long-term. Wrestlers who are still living and have a history of concussions could be examined, treated with anti-depressants and new therapies could be developed.

 

I realize that to a degree that this involves wishful thinking, and I realize that doing this will attract misguided and socially stunted wrestling fans who are looking for a way to justify enjoying the post-match celebration at Wrestlemania XX. But there's no controlling that, and the greater good shouldn't be sacrificed just to avoid misunderstanding of the original intent.

 

This has nothing to do with justifying the actions of Chris Benoit, and everything to do with making an honest attempt to find as much of the truth as possible.

[Guest teke184]

Finding a reason and finding an excuse shouldn't be confused. Regardless of whether or not Benoit has post-concussion syndrome, his actions are not somehow less evil. If he had the syndrome, he developed it because of choices he made where he purposely put himself at risk. In the end, it all comes back to choices Chris Benoit made with his body and choices he made to murder his family, *even if* PCS caused him to go insane.

 

However, there is still value in doing this. There have been two suicides in wrestling in the last four months. Both of them were from wrestlers who had history of taking unprotected head shots, and both of them hung themselves. This is a pattern I don't think anyone would like to see continue. If the brains of Mike Awesome and Chris Benoit can be compared to each other, and it is determined that both wrestlers were suffering from PCS, that is hugely valuable.

 

PCS research, from my understanding, is still in its infancy. Having Benoit's brain examined, and the results of the research, could increase the available information on PCS and could potentially (potentially) cause changes for the better in the long-term. Wrestlers who are still living and have a history of concussions could be examined, treated with anti-depressants and new therapies could be developed.

 

I realize that to a degree that this involves wishful thinking, and I realize that doing this will attract misguided and socially stunted wrestling fans who are looking for a way to justify enjoying the post-match celebration at Wrestlemania XX. But there's no controlling that, and the greater good shouldn't be sacrificed just to avoid misunderstanding of the original intent.

 

This has nothing to do with justifying the actions of Chris Benoit, and everything to do with making an honest attempt to find as much of the truth as possible.

The only problem with this is that no one's said what exactly caused Awesome to hang himself, nor if the brain was preserved for study.

[Loss]

True. My point hinges on that information.

 

I just think it's worth looking into the two incidents more if possible, instead of writing them off as mere coincidence.

[Guest teke184]

This topic is being pushed by writers at the Observer.

 

http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/h...t.asp?aID=20029

 

Why Benoit's brain needs to be examined for concussions

 

by Dave Bixenspan

 

There is, we feel, a serious issue that needs to be addressed in

connection with the Benoit family tragedy. Professional wrestling is a

dangerous occupation and with that danger comes inherent risk. Chris

Benoit wrestled a high impact style that often put his body at risk,

the effects of which, will likely have mounted up over the course of

his twenty-year career. In particular, Mr. Benoit's style of wrestling

will have caused inevitable damage to the head, possibly resulting in

a number of concussions over his career as a professional wrestler. It

is therefore very possible that Mr. Benoit could have been suffering

from a mild form of traumatic brain injury known as Post-concussion

Syndrome (PCS). The symptoms of PCS are numerous and include

irritability, depression, lack of ability to tolerate stress, mood

swings, impaired judgement and/or cognition, and slowed cognitive

processing. Christopher Nowinski, a Harvard graduate, former WWE

wrestler, and the author of "Head Games: Football's Concussion

Crisis," has carried out extensive work and research on the subject of

PCS and has stated that he believes that repeated, untreated head

injuries could be a major factor that contributed to Mr. Benoit's

actions.

 

The only way to conclusively know whether PCS played any part in

Mr. Benoit's actions is for his brain to be examined for telltale

neurofibrillary tangles in the brain's cortex. Approaches have been

made to the coroner in charge of the case, but have so far been

denied. We believe that PCS could hold the answers to the many

questions raised by the tragedy that occurred over the weekend.

However the only way that we can know for sure is for a brain exam to

occur. PCS has been found to contribute to the untimely deaths of a

number of professional sportsmen over the years, in particular those

players exposed to high-impact, physical contact. Mr. Nowinski

initiated an inquiry in to the death of 44-year old Andre Waters, a

former defensive back in the NFL. Mr. Waters was found by a

neuropathologist to have had suffered brain damage from playing

football, which lead to his depression and ultimately his suicide.

Former WWE and WCW wrestler Bret Hart was also confirmed as a sufferer

of PCS, due to a number of head injuries sustained over the last few

weeks of his career. The syndrome caused his retirement in 2000 and

two years later he sustained another head injury, which caused him to

suffer a stroke and partial paralysis at the age of 44.

 

PCS is a serious and potentially deadly problem. We urge people to

campaign for the state coroner to perform a neurological exam to

determine whether it was a factor in this past weekend's tragedy. The

Benoit family tragedy should not be excused, however we do hope that

by looking into the possibility of PCS some light can be shed on the

reasons for the events that occurred inside the Benoit residence.

Therefore we urge those investigating the case to pursue every avenue,

and those who are concerned with it to support us in our determined

search for the truth. We may never know the full story of what

occurred this past weekend, however we can hope to discover the

factors that contributed towards this horrific event and make steps

toward preventing future tragedies.

[Bix]

This after I TOLD them to hold back on posting it because something may happen anyway independent of it.

[Guest teke184]

The item has since been removed and/or inactivated.

[Bix]

Yeah, Bryan acted quickly when I asked, thankfully.

 

If the wheels are in motion, I don't want there to be any potential setbacks.

[Dylan Waco]

Finding a reason and finding an excuse shouldn't be confused. Regardless of whether or not Benoit has post-concussion syndrome, his actions are not somehow less evil. If he had the syndrome, he developed it because of choices he made where he purposely put himself at risk. In the end, it all comes back to choices Chris Benoit made with his body and choices he made to murder his family, *even if* PCS caused him to go insane.

 

However, there is still value in doing this. There have been two suicides in wrestling in the last four months. Both of them were from wrestlers who had history of taking unprotected head shots, and both of them hung themselves. This is a pattern I don't think anyone would like to see continue. If the brains of Mike Awesome and Chris Benoit can be compared to each other, and it is determined that both wrestlers were suffering from PCS, that is hugely valuable.

 

PCS research, from my understanding, is still in its infancy. Having Benoit's brain examined, and the results of the research, could increase the available information on PCS and could potentially (potentially) cause changes for the better in the long-term. Wrestlers who are still living and have a history of concussions could be examined, treated with anti-depressants and new therapies could be developed.

 

I realize that to a degree that this involves wishful thinking, and I realize that doing this will attract misguided and socially stunted wrestling fans who are looking for a way to justify enjoying the post-match celebration at Wrestlemania XX. But there's no controlling that, and the greater good shouldn't be sacrificed just to avoid misunderstanding of the original intent.

 

This has nothing to do with justifying the actions of Chris Benoit, and everything to do with making an honest attempt to find as much of the truth as possible.

I've got to say that based on what we know about anti-depressants the idea of treating people with PCS with them strikes me as incredibly awful.

 

That said I agree that this kind of thing has to be examined thoroughly and carefully..and there is far more danger in treating Benoit as "monster, aberration, exception to the rule" than there is in treating him as "possibly brain damaged, psychotic, maybe caused by certain practices involved with pro wrestling,which has an epedemic of young deaths littering it's landscape".

[Jingus]

Well, nevermind. I guess this is why the medical examiner didn't pay any attention to Nowinski.

By the time police found Benoit's body on Monday, it had been lying in the 93-degree heat for at least a day. According to a source familiar with the local coroner's exam, it was virtually "liquefied."