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Approximately 1.4 million emergency department visits per year are for trauma9c brain injuries, which has been thought to underlie a host of problems directly related to neuronal dysfunc9on or death 1, 2 . Different types and severi9es of trauma9c brain injuries (TBI) are differen9ally associated with several neurologic outcomes including seizures, Alzheimer’s demen9a (AD), parkinsonism, Demen’a pugilis’ca (DP), mul9ple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), posMrauma9c symptoms, ocular and visual disorders, and endocrine disorders 2 . Data indicates that moderate and severe TBIs increase the risk of demen9a between 2 and 4fold 3 . The terms “punchdrunk” and “slugnuMy” state were first ascribed by Martland et al. in 1928 to describe a neurologic disorder that primarily affected boxers who were exposed to the cumula9ve effects of repe99ve, subconcussive blows to the head 5, 4, 1, 2 . This was successively labeled demen9a pugilis9ca and currently chronic trauma9c encephalopathy (CTE), which are a types of demen9a associated with the high risk factors acquired from mul9ple mild TBIs, as experienced by professional boxers 6 . DP is a collec9on of neurological and neuropsychological symptoms believed to be a result of numerous concussive or subconcussive blows to the head and although most commonly reported in boxers, there have been reports in other sports 6 . DP symptoms emerge anywhere from 7 to 35 years a\er the beginning of a boxer’s career, and manifesta9ons of neurological decline usually do not present un9l a\er a boxer’s career has ended, and worsening may progress over decades 6, 4 . TBI is perhaps the best established environmental risk factor for demen9a. Prevalence is greater in males, individuals of low socioeconomic status, alcohol/drug abusers, and new research is sugges9ng a linkage with the APOEε4 allele 3 . Figure 1A: Famous American professional boxer Muhammad Ali bea9ng Brian London with a knockout punch in 1966 8 . Figure 1B: Brain deteriora9on resul9ng from repe99ve hits to the head 9 . Results from mul9ple studies provide data to indicate a link between suffering mul9ple concussions, regardless of severity, and the development of demen9a or demen9alike symptoms. Despite certain studies proposing that concussions induce earlyonset of demen9a, these results could not be found to be replicable in other studies. The results of this literature review are not surprising because the study findings have been replicated in a variety of other contact sports. Though the skull is naturally designed to protect the brain, it is not built to withstand mul9ple hard impacts to the head 10 . Although analysis methods for the degree of injury in each study varied, they all came to the same result. Based on the results and regarding policy implica9ons, there may be a need in modifying regula9ons to minimize the opportuni9es for injuries. Safeguards such as mandatory res9ng and specialized protec9ve gear for the head should be considered. An outstanding finding was the APOEε4 gene, which predisposes an individual to a higher risk of developing demen9a pugilis9ca. The presence of this gene creates a confounding effect as most of the studies u9lized qualita9ve methods that analyzed cases and controls and disregarded gene9c history. Ethical considera9ons for boxers include pretest scanning for the gene of APOEε4 to assess if there is a heightened risk of contrac9ng DP. Bias And Limita3ons: The literature search was limited to only English text ar9cles from the Medline OVID SP search engine, therefore other suppor9ng or opposing ar9cles were ul9mately not factored into the conclusion of the findings. Furthermore, there appears to be an absence of a standardized study measure in assessing TBIs which may have varied the findings from ar9cle to ar9cle. Among all the possible literature to assess, grey literature were omiMed due to the difficulty in acquiring them within the 9me constraint. The term “Trauma9c Brain Injuries" or "TBI" had mul9ple synonyms such as Demen9a Pugilis9ca, and Chronic Trauma9c Encephalopathy (CTE). Since the literature search was confined to "demen9a" and "pugilis9ca", some instances of CTE may have been omiMed due to the changing of terms throughout 9me. "Pugilis9ca" was in fact, the older term used to define TBIs, but was u9lized as such to address literature searches conducted by each paper. The varia9on in terminology could present a source of informa9on bias in our search strategy. Although samples were chosen on the basis of having TBI, each ar9cle addressed different confounding factors or failed to address extraneous factors that may have caused bias in selec9ng the samples. Felicia Au 1 , Alberto Lee 1 , and Heather Ritchie 1 1 Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of OMawa, Canada Is there an established associa9on or correla9on between professional boxingrelated cranial injuries and demen9a within studies conducted in the past five years? Search Strategy: A structured literature review was conducted to assess the possible rela9onship between boxingrelated cranial injuries and demen’a pugilis’ca. The literature search was conducted using the Medline Ovid SP database. Inclusion Criteria: Ar9cles with human research containing the keywords “concussion”, “demen9a”, “pugilis9ca”, “boxing”, and “professional”. Exclusion Criteria: Ar9cles published before 2009 were not included in the search and only ar9cles with English text were chosen. Analysis: The abstracts of the resul9ng 54 ar9cles were reviewed by three raters for relevance to the research ques9on, with 100% concurrence. The resul9ng 15 ar9cles were then reviewed by the raters for relevance, again with 100% concurrence. In total, 8 ar9cles were included in the present study. All study types were included that were relevant to the research ques9on. 1 Ling, G.S.F., Marshall, S.A., & Moore, D.F. (2010). Diagnosis and management of trauma9c brain injury. Con’nuum: Lifelong Learning in Neurology 16(6). pp. 2740. 2 Bazarian, J.J., Cernak, I., NobleHaeusslein, L., Potolicchio, S., & Temkin, N. (2009). Longterm neurologic outcomes a\er trauma9c brain injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilita’on 24(6). pp. 439451. 3 Shively, S., Scher, A.I., Perl, D.P., & DiazArras9a, R. (2012). Demen9a resul9ng from trauma9c brain injuries: What is the pathology?. Archives of Neurology, 69(10): pp. 12451251. 4 Mayer, S.A., & Badja9a, N. (2010). Chapter 70: Head Injury. In Rowland, L.P. (Ed.) & Pedley, T.A. (Ed.), MerriL’s Neurology (12th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: LippincoM Williams & Wilkins. 5 Jorge, R., & Robinson, R.G. (2009). 2.5: Neuropsychiatric consequences of trauma9c brain injury. In Sadock, B.J., Sadock, V.A., & Ruiz, P. (Eds.), Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: LippincoM Williams & Wilkins 6 Noggle, C.A., Dean, R.S., Horton, Jr, A.M. (Eds.). (2012). Demen9a pugilis9ca. In the Encyclopedia of Neuropsychological Disorders (1st ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing 7 McCrory, P. (2011). Sports concussion and the risk of chronic neurological impairment. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 21(1): pp. 612. 8 BlaMy, D. (2012, August 7). Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fights In and Out of the Ring. Retrieved from: hMp://www.biography.com/blog/ muhammadalisgreatestfightsinandoutofthering20906499 9 Shyr, L. (2011, February). The Big Idea: Brain Trauma. Retrieved from: hMp://ngm.na9onalgeographic.com/2011/02/bigidea/concussionstext#closemodal. 10 SpioMa, A.M., Bartsch, A.J., & Benzel, E.C. (2012). Heading in soccer: Dangerous play? Neurosurgery 70(1). pp. 111. 11 Osborn, A.G. (2013). Secondary Effects and Sequelae of CNS Trauma. In Osborn’s: Brain: Imaging, Pathology, and Anatomy (1st ed.). Salt Lake City, UT: Amirsys Publishing, Inc. Limitations • English Text • Human Research • 2009 - Present Initial Search Keywords • Concussion • Dementia • Pugilistica • Boxing • Professional 54 Articles • 3 Researchers Read Abstracts • 100% Concurrence 15 Articles • 3 Researchers Read Articles • 100% Concurrence 8 Articles Background: The Center for Disease Control and Preven9on es9mates that 1.6 to 3.8 million of the trauma9c brain injuries that occur annually in the United States are sportsrelated 3 . Epidemiological studies have suggested a link between cogni9ve decline in the later stages of adulthood and sports concussions received in earlier stages of adulthood. The repe99ve head trauma resul9ng from the many blows a boxer receives in each match may put professional boxers at increased risk of demen’a pugilis’ca (DP) in later life. Purpose/objec9ves: A structured literature review was conducted for the purpose of assessing the rela9onship between boxingrelated cranial injuries and demen9a in later life. Methods: The literature search was conducted using the Ovid SP database, using the keywords “concussion”, “demen9a”, “pugilis9ca”, “boxing”, and “professional”. The search was limited to English text and human research from 2009 to present. Results: The ini9al literature search resulted in 15 relevant ar9cles. A\er careful analysis, only 8 ar9cles we deemed suitable for data extrac9on. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that there may be a correla9on between repe99ve cranial injuries and demen9a in boxers, however there is insufficient evidence to answer the research ques9on. As a result, further research should be conducted to include the implementa9on of a more rigorous standardized set of diagnos9c criteria. Study Yes No Bazarian et al., 2009 Jorge & Robinson, 2009 Noggle et al., 2012 Stern et al., 2013 McCrory, 2011 Ling, Marshall & Moore 2010 Shively et al., 2012 Osborn, 2014 x The evidence strongly suggests that there is indeed an associa9on between cranial injuries and demen9a, but the limita9ons within all the studies makes it impossible to reach a defini9ve conclusion. Therefore, the insufficient data is unable to answer the research ques9on. This indicates that to establish correla9on, future work should be conducted to include more recent high quality experimental studies as well as the review of grey literature. Moreover, since all the studies reviewed were biased and limited, guidelines should be established to standardize diagnos9c criteria and measurements within studies. For future studies to achieve sta9s9cally significant results, the use of larger sample sizes in longitudinal prospec9ve studies are required as well as more comprehensive procedures for analyzing pa9ents. The appearance of a strong correla9on gives rise to implica9ons for reassessing regula9ons and improving the safety of boxers and other contact sports. Anderson et al. found that 16.67% of concussions were classified as mild, 54.76% were moderate and 28.57% were classified as severe 5 . Another study revealed that 1018% of mild concussion cases, 25% of moderate cases and 33% of severe cases developed demen9alike symptoms 2 . A retrospec9ve study revealed that 29% of demen9a pa9ents reported a history of TBI, when compared to only 3% in the control group 5 . Table 2: Clinical and Pathologic Features Discrimina3ng Between AD and CTE. Abbrevia9ons: AD, Alzheimer disease; CTE, chronic trauma9c encephalopathy; +, mild, ++, moderate, +++, severe; ±, equivocal 4 . Table 1: Associa3on between demen%a pugilis%ca (DP) and boxing related cranial injuries. Summary of studies reviewed in literature review and findings of the presence of an associa9on between boxing and demen9a. Upon analysis, an associa9on was evident in seven out of eight ar9cles. Figure 2: Axial FLAIR (Fluid APenuated Inversion Recovery) scan in a middleaged former professional athlete with earlyonset demen3a. This magne9c resonance imaging shows diffuse bihemispheric volume loss, confluent and punctuate white maMer hyperintensi9es 11 .
1

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Page 1: FeliciaAu 1, Alberto-Lee1,-and-Heather-Ritchie1 › bitstream › 10393 › 31453 › 1 › Dementia... · 2016-01-04 · Approximately-1.4-million-emergency-departmentvisits-per-year-are-for-traumac-brain-injuries,-which-has-been-thoughtto-underlie-ahostof-problems-directly-related-to

Approximately  1.4  million  emergency  department  visits  per  year  are  for  trauma9c  brain  injuries,  which  has  been  thought  to  underlie  a  host  of  problems  directly  related  to  neuronal  dysfunc9on  or  death1,  2.  Different  types  and   severi9es  of   trauma9c  brain   injuries   (TBI)   are  differen9ally  associated  with   several  neurologic  outcomes  including  seizures,  Alzheimer’s  demen9a  (AD),  parkinsonism,  Demen'a  pugilis'ca  (DP),  mul9ple  sclerosis   (MS),   amyotrophic   lateral   sclerosis   (ALS),   posMrauma9c   symptoms,   ocular   and   visual   disorders,  and   endocrine   disorders2.   Data   indicates   that   moderate   and   severe   TBIs   increase   the   risk   of   demen9a  between  2-­‐  and  4-­‐fold3.  The  terms  “punch-­‐drunk”  and  “slug-­‐nuMy”  state  were  first  ascribed  by  Martland  et  al.   in   1928   to   describe   a   neurologic   disorder   that   primarily   affected   boxers   who   were   exposed   to   the  cumula9ve   effects   of   repe99ve,   subconcussive   blows   to   the   head   5,   4,   1,   2.   This   was   successively   labeled  demen9a  pugilis9ca  and  currently  chronic  trauma9c  encephalopathy  (CTE),  which  are  a  types  of  demen9a  associated   with   the   high   risk   factors   acquired   from  mul9ple   mild   TBIs,   as   experienced   by   professional  boxers6.   DP   is   a   collec9on   of   neurological   and   neuropsychological   symptoms   believed   to   be   a   result   of  numerous   concussive   or   subconcussive   blows   to   the   head   and   although   most   commonly   reported   in  boxers,  there  have  been  reports  in  other  sports6.  DP  symptoms  emerge  anywhere  from  7  to  35  years  a\er  the  beginning  of  a  boxer’s  career,  and  manifesta9ons  of  neurological  decline  usually  do  not  present  un9l  a\er  a  boxer’s  career  has  ended,  and  worsening  may  progress  over  decades   6,  4.  TBI   is  perhaps   the  best  established   environmental   risk   factor   for   demen9a.   Prevalence   is   greater   in   males,   individuals   of   low  socioeconomic   status,   alcohol/drug  abusers,   and  new   research   is   sugges9ng  a   linkage  with   the  APOE-­‐ε4  allele3.                  

       Figure  1A:  Famous  American  professional  boxer  Muhammad  Ali  bea9ng  Brian  London  with  a  knockout          punch  in  19668.    Figure  1B:  Brain  deteriora9on  resul9ng  from  repe99ve  hits  to  the  head9.  

Ø Results   from  mul9ple   studies   provide   data   to   indicate   a   link   between   suffering  mul9ple   concussions,  regardless   of   severity,   and   the   development   of   demen9a   or   demen9a-­‐like   symptoms.   Despite   certain  studies  proposing  that  concussions  induce  early-­‐onset  of  demen9a,  these  results  could  not  be  found  to  be  replicable  in  other  studies.  Ø The  results  of  this  literature  review  are  not  surprising  because  the  study  findings  have  been  replicated  in  a  variety  of  other  contact  sports.  Though  the  skull  is  naturally  designed  to  protect  the  brain,  it  is  not  built  to  withstand  mul9ple  hard  impacts  to  the  head10.  Ø Although  analysis  methods  for  the  degree  of  injury  in  each  study  varied,  they  all  came  to  the  same  result.  Ø Based  on  the  results  and  regarding  policy  implica9ons,  there  may  be  a  need  in  modifying  regula9ons  to  minimize   the  opportuni9es   for   injuries.  Safeguards  such  as  mandatory   res9ng  and  specialized  protec9ve  gear  for  the  head  should  be  considered.  Ø An   outstanding   finding   was   the   APOE-­‐ε4   gene,   which   predisposes   an   individual   to   a   higher   risk   of  developing   demen9a  pugilis9ca.   The   presence  of   this   gene   creates   a   confounding   effect   as  most   of   the  studies  u9lized  qualita9ve  methods  that  analyzed  cases  and  controls  and  disregarded  gene9c  history.  Ø Ethical  considera9ons  for  boxers  include  pre-­‐test  scanning  for  the  gene  of  APOE-­‐ε4  to  assess  if  there  is  a  heightened  risk  of  contrac9ng  DP.  Bias  And  Limita3ons:  Ø The  literature  search  was  limited  to  only  English  text  ar9cles  from  the  Medline  OVID  SP  search  engine,  therefore   other   suppor9ng   or   opposing   ar9cles  were   ul9mately   not   factored   into   the   conclusion   of   the  findings.  Furthermore,  there  appears  to  be  an  absence  of  a  standardized  study  measure  in  assessing  TBIs  which  may  have  varied  the  findings  from  ar9cle  to  ar9cle.  Among  all  the  possible  literature  to  assess,  grey  literature  were  omiMed  due  to  the  difficulty  in  acquiring  them  within  the  9me  constraint.  Ø The   term  “Trauma9c  Brain   Injuries"  or   "TBI"  had  mul9ple   synonyms   such  as  Demen9a  Pugilis9ca,   and  Chronic   Trauma9c   Encephalopathy   (CTE).   Since   the   literature   search   was   confined   to   "demen9a"   and  "pugilis9ca",  some  instances  of  CTE  may  have  been  omiMed  due  to  the  changing  of  terms  throughout  9me.  "Pugilis9ca"  was  in  fact,  the  older  term  used  to  define  TBIs,  but  was  u9lized  as  such  to  address  literature  searches  conducted  by  each  paper.  The  varia9on  in  terminology  could  present  a  source  of  informa9on  bias  in  our  search  strategy.  Ø Although  samples  were  chosen  on  the  basis  of  having  TBI,  each  ar9cle  addressed  different  confounding  factors  or  failed  to  address  extraneous  factors  that  may  have  caused  bias  in  selec9ng  the  samples.  

Felicia  Au1,  Alberto  Lee1,  and  Heather  Ritchie1  1Interdisciplinary  School  of  Health  Sciences,  Faculty  of  Health  Sciences,  University  of  OMawa,  Canada  

Is  there  an  established  associa9on  or  correla9on  between  professional  boxing-­‐related  cranial  injuries  and  demen9a  within  studies  conducted  in  the  past  five  years?  

Ø Search  Strategy:  A  structured  literature  review  was  conducted  to  assess  the  possible  rela9onship  between   boxing-­‐related   cranial   injuries   and   demen'a   pugilis'ca.   The   literature   search   was  conducted  using  the  Medline  Ovid  SP  database.  Ø Inclusion   Criteria:   Ar9cles   with   human   research   containing   the   keywords   “concussion”,  “demen9a”,  “pugilis9ca”,  “boxing”,  and  “professional”.  Ø Exclusion  Criteria:  Ar9cles  published  before  2009  were  not  included  in  the  search  and  only  ar9cles  with  English  text  were  chosen.  Ø Analysis:  The  abstracts  of  the  resul9ng  54  ar9cles  were  reviewed  by  three  raters  for  relevance  to  the  research  ques9on,  with  100%  concurrence.  The  resul9ng  15  ar9cles  were  then  reviewed  by  the  raters  for  relevance,  again  with  100%  concurrence.  In  total,  8  ar9cles  were  included  in  the  present  study.  All  study  types  were  included  that  were  relevant  to  the  research  ques9on.  

 

1Ling,  G.S.F.,  Marshall,  S.A.,  &  Moore,  D.F.  (2010).  Diagnosis  and  management  of  trauma9c  brain  injury.  Con'nuum:  Lifelong  Learning  in  Neurology  16(6).  pp.  27-­‐40.    2Bazarian,   J.J.,   Cernak,   I.,   Noble-­‐Haeusslein,   L.,   Potolicchio,   S.,   &   Temkin,   N.   (2009).   Long-­‐term   neurologic   outcomes   a\er   trauma9c   brain   injury.   Journal   of   Head   Trauma  Rehabilita'on  24(6).  pp.  439-­‐451.  3Shively,   S.,   Scher,   A.I.,   Perl,   D.P.,   &   Diaz-­‐Arras9a,   R.   (2012).   Demen9a   resul9ng   from   trauma9c   brain   injuries:   What   is   the   pathology?.   Archives   of   Neurology,   69(10):   pp.  1245-­‐1251.    4Mayer,  S.A.,  &  Badja9a,  N.    (2010).    Chapter  70:  Head  Injury.  In  Rowland,  L.P.  (Ed.)  &  Pedley,  T.A.  (Ed.),  MerriL’s  Neurology  (12th  ed.).    Philadelphia,  PA:  LippincoM  Williams  &  Wilkins.  5Jorge,  R.,  &  Robinson,  R.G.  (2009).  2.5:  Neuropsychiatric  consequences  of  trauma9c  brain  injury.  In  Sadock,  B.J.,  Sadock,  V.A.,  &  Ruiz,  P.  (Eds.),  Kaplan  &  Sadock’s  Comprehensive  Textbook  of  Psychiatry  (9th  ed.).  Philadelphia,  PA:  LippincoM  Williams  &  Wilkins  6Noggle,  C.A.,  Dean,  R.S.,  Horton,  Jr,  A.M.  (Eds.).  (2012).  Demen9a  pugilis9ca.  In  the  Encyclopedia  of  Neuropsychological  Disorders  (1st  ed.).  New  York,  NY:  Springer  Publishing  7McCrory,  P.  (2011).  Sports  concussion  and  the  risk  of  chronic  neurological  impairment.  Clinical  Journal  of  Sports  Medicine,  21(1):  pp.  6-­‐12.    8BlaMy,  D.  (2012,  August  7).  Muhammad  Ali’s  Greatest  Fights  In  and  Out  of  the  Ring.  Retrieved  from:  hMp://www.biography.com/blog/  muhammad-­‐alis-­‐greatest-­‐fights-­‐in-­‐and-­‐out-­‐of-­‐the-­‐ring-­‐20906499  9Shyr,  L.  (2011,  February).  The  Big  Idea:  Brain  Trauma.  Retrieved  from:  hMp://ngm.na9onalgeographic.com/2011/02/big-­‐idea/concussions-­‐text#close-­‐modal.  10SpioMa,  A.M.,  Bartsch,  A.J.,  &  Benzel,  E.C.  (2012).  Heading  in  soccer:  Dangerous  play?  Neurosurgery  70(1).  pp.  1-­‐11.  11Osborn,  A.G.  (2013).  Secondary  Effects  and  Sequelae  of  CNS  Trauma.  In  Osborn’s:  Brain:  Imaging,  Pathology,  and  Anatomy  (1st  ed.).  Salt  Lake  City,  UT:  Amirsys  Publishing,  Inc.  

Limitations • English Text • Human

Research • 2009 - Present

Initial Search Keywords • Concussion • Dementia • Pugilistica • Boxing • Professional

54 Articles • 3 Researchers

Read Abstracts • 100%

Concurrence

15 Articles • 3 Researchers

Read Articles • 100%

Concurrence 8 Articles

Background:   The   Center   for   Disease   Control   and   Preven9on   es9mates   that   1.6   to   3.8   million   of   the  trauma9c   brain   injuries   that   occur   annually   in   the   United   States   are   sports-­‐related3.   Epidemiological  studies   have   suggested   a   link   between   cogni9ve   decline   in   the   later   stages   of   adulthood   and   sports  concussions  received   in  earlier  stages  of  adulthood.  The  repe99ve  head  trauma  resul9ng  from  the  many  blows  a  boxer  receives  in  each  match  may  put  professional  boxers  at  increased  risk  of  demen'a  pugilis'ca  (DP)  in  later  life.  Purpose/objec9ves:   A   structured   literature   review   was   conducted   for   the   purpose   of   assessing   the  rela9onship  between  boxing-­‐related  cranial  injuries  and  demen9a  in  later  life.  Methods:   The   literature   search   was   conducted   using   the   Ovid   SP   database,   using   the   keywords  “concussion”,   “demen9a”,   “pugilis9ca”,   “boxing”,   and   “professional”.   The   search  was   limited   to   English  text  and  human  research  from  2009  to  present.  Results:  The  ini9al  literature  search  resulted  in  15  relevant  ar9cles.  A\er  careful  analysis,  only  8  ar9cles  we  deemed  suitable  for  data  extrac9on.  Conclusions:  The  evidence  suggests  that  there  may  be  a  correla9on  between  repe99ve  cranial  injuries  and  demen9a   in  boxers,  however   there   is   insufficient  evidence  to  answer   the  research  ques9on.  As  a   result,  further  research  should  be  conducted  to  include  the  implementa9on  of  a  more  rigorous  standardized  set  of  diagnos9c  criteria.    

Study Yes No

Bazarian'et'al.,'2009 ✓

Jorge'&'Robinson,'2009 �

Noggle'et'al.,'2012 �

Stern'et'al.,'2013 �

McCrory,'2011 �

Ling,'Marshall'&'Moore'2010 �

Shively'et'al.,'2012 �

Osborn,'2014

x

Ø  The   evidence   strongly   suggests   that   there   is   indeed   an   associa9on   between   cranial   injuries   and  demen9a,  but  the  limita9ons  within  all  the  studies  makes  it  impossible  to  reach  a  defini9ve  conclusion.  Therefore,   the   insufficient   data   is   unable   to   answer   the   research   ques9on.   This   indicates   that   to  establish   correla9on,   future   work   should   be   conducted   to   include   more   recent   high   quality  experimental  studies  as  well  as  the  review  of  grey  literature.  

Ø  Moreover,  since  all  the  studies  reviewed  were  biased  and  limited,  guidelines  should  be  established  to  standardize   diagnos9c   criteria   and   measurements   within   studies.   For   future   studies   to   achieve  sta9s9cally   significant   results,   the   use   of   larger   sample   sizes   in   longitudinal   prospec9ve   studies   are  required  as  well  as  more  comprehensive  procedures  for  analyzing  pa9ents.  The  appearance  of  a  strong  correla9on  gives  rise  to  implica9ons  for  reassessing  regula9ons  and  improving  the  safety  of  boxers  and  other  contact  sports.  

Ø  Anderson  et  al.  found  that  16.67%  of  concussions  were  classified  as  mild,  54.76%  were  moderate  and  28.57%  were  classified  as  severe5.  

Ø  Another   study   revealed   that   10-­‐18%   of   mild   concussion   cases,   25%   of   moderate   cases   and   33%   of  severe  cases  developed  demen9a-­‐like  symptoms2.  

Ø  A  retrospec9ve  study  revealed  that  29%  of  demen9a  pa9ents  reported  a  history  of  TBI,  when  compared  to  only  3%  in  the  control  group5.  

Table   2:   Clinical   and   Pathologic   Features  Discrimina3ng  Between  AD  and  CTE.  Abbrevia9ons:  AD,   Alzheimer   disease;   CTE,   chronic   trauma9c  encephalopathy;  +,  mild,  ++,  moderate,  +++,  severe;  ±,  equivocal4.    

Table   1:   Associa3on   between  demen%a   pugilis%ca  (DP)  and  boxing  related  cranial  injuries.  Summary  of  studies  reviewed  in  literature  review  and  findings  of  the  presence  of  an  associa9on  between  boxing  and  demen9a.  Upon  analysis,  an  associa9on  was  evident  in  seven  out  of  eight  ar9cles.    

Figure   2:   Axial   FLAIR   (Fluid   APenuated   Inversion  Recovery)   scan   in   a   middle-­‐aged   former  professional   athlete   with   early-­‐onset   demen3a.  This   magne9c   resonance   imaging   shows   diffuse  bihemispheric  volume  loss,  confluent  and  punctuate  white  maMer  hyperintensi9es11.