What are the chances of developing CTE if I play football in high school?

If you play football in high school you are most certainly putting your brain at risk for developing CTE, especially if you experience a lot of hits to your head. Your risk may be greater if you played tackle football before the age of 12 and continued to play through high school. A 2017 study from researchers at Boston University’s Chronic CTE Center looked at 214 former football players, including 43 who only played during high school.

The researchers concluded that “playing tackle footballs before the age of 12 increased the odds of problems with behavioral regulation, apathy and executive functioning later in life by twofold, and the odds of suffering symptoms of depression threefold.”