This Doctor Thinks He’s Found a Way to Treat CTE.

[Last] summer, Dr. Charbel Moussa, director of the Georgetown University Laboratory for Dementia and Parkinsonism, presented a possible treatment for dementia and Parkinson’s at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London.

In previous research, Moussa had discovered a way to treat one of the underlying physical causes of dementia and Alzheimer’s, as well as a host of other neuro-degenerative diseases. Many such neurological conditions are marked by an abnormal amount of certain proteins (specifically, tau and amyloid), and Moussa had found a way to clear the brain of this “toxic buildup” — and in turn, reduce brain inflammation and improve cognitive performance.

Immediately, some people began asking him about whether the treatment could also be applied to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the brain disease that’s dominated headlines and beleaguered the sport of football for the past decade. An accumulation of tau proteins in the brain is the signature characteristic of CTE, and Moussa’s research seemed a natural fit for the infamous disease.

The only problem? Despite the NFL and other football organizations saying they’re taking the threat of CTE seriously, no one will fund a CTE-specific version of Moussa’s work.

“We’ve had several attempts to start clinical trials with CTE,” says Moussa. “There’s a lot of interest, but unfortunately it comes from individuals, and not institutions that want to finance a trial.”

CTE first burst into the mainstream 15 years ago, when forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu discovered the first case in a former NFL player when he conducted an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster. More than 100 more cases have been discovered since then.

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