Dementia pugilistica
| Dementia pugilistica | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Boxers receive many blows involving rotational force, which is implicated in concussion. Repeat concussions can lead to dementia pugilistica. | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | psychiatry |
| ICD-10 | F07.81 |
| DiseasesDB | 11042 |
| eMedicine | sports/113 |
Dementia pugilistica (DP) is a type of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease with features of dementia. DP may affect amateur or professional boxers, wrestlers as well as athletes in other sports who suffer concussions. DP is also called chronic boxer's encephalopathy, traumatic boxer’s encephalopathy, boxer's dementia, chronic traumatic brain injury associated with boxing (CTBI-B), and punch-drunk syndrome. DP was historically considered equivalent to CTE but is now considered a subtype of CTE.
The condition is caused by repeated concussive and sub-concussive blows (blows that are below the threshold of force necessary to cause concussion), or both. Because of the concern that boxing may cause DP, there is a movement among medical professionals to ban the sport. Medical professionals have called for such a ban since as early as the 1950s. Symptoms and signs of DP develop progressively over a long latent period sometimes amounting to decades, with the average time of onset being about 12 to 16 years after the start of a career in boxing. The condition is thought to affect around 15% to 20% of professional boxers.
The word pugilistica comes from the Latin root pugil, for boxer (akin to pugnus fist, pugnāre to fight).
The condition, which occurs in athletes having suffered repetitive blows to the head, manifests as dementia, or declining mental ability, problems with memory, dizzy spells or lack of balance to the point of not being able to walk under one's own power for a short time and or Parkinsonism, or tremors and lack of coordination. It can also cause speech problems and an unsteady gait. Patients with DP may be prone to inappropriate or explosive behavior and may display pathological jealousy or paranoia.
Sufferers may be treated with drugs used for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinsonism, although there is no known cure.
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