Dementia Pugilistica - Famous Cases

Famous Cases

Dementia pugilistica is relatively common among boxers having had long careers and received a great many blows to the head. It is perhaps under-reported because the symptoms often do not become overt until middle age or even later, and are often indistinguishable from Alzheimer's. On the other hand, dementia pugilistica has often been falsely reported. It has been rumored that Jack Dempsey suffered from it, when in fact he retained his mental vigor until his death at 87. Joe Louis developed signs of paranoid schizophrenia that have been attributed to cocaine abuse but may also have a genetic element (his father was institutionalised for mental illness). Other ex-boxers have been said to have had dementia pugilistica when in fact they suffer from nothing worse than a working-class accent and a gruff demeanor (e.g., Rocky Graziano, Tony Zale).

However, Jimmy Ellis, Floyd Patterson (who resigned from the New York State Athletic Commission because of his deteriorating memory), Bobby Chacon, Jerry Quarry, Mike Quarry, Jimmy Young, Wilfred Benitez, Emile Griffith, Willie Pep, Freddie Roach, Sugar Ray Robinson, Billy Conn, Joe Frazier, Fritzie Zivic, and Meldrick Taylor appear to have been genuinely affected by the disorder. Ingemar Johansson may be another victim. In addition, Muhammad Ali's Parkinson's disease was said to be caused by his boxing career, but Ali's own physician Ferdie Pacheco MD states in his Book 'Fight Doctor' that Ali's condition is often misquoted and that Ali, in fact, has Parkinson's Syndrome, which he advises is caused by physical trauma. However, some maintain that this sort of dementia is precisely diagnosed only in autopsy, and claims of retired athletes not having DP are rarely accompanied by autopsy results. On the other hand, diagnosis of Parkinson's disease on the basis of clinical observations is 75-80% accurate.

It can be noted that autopsies of 11 professional American football players by Dr. Ann McKee, of Boston University School of Medicine, found CTE in all cases. CTE has been diagnosed (also by the Boston University group) in one amateur football player, University of Pennsylvania lineman Owen Thomas, following his suicide.

Professional wrestler Chris Benoit was discovered to have suffered from CTE following his 2007 murders and subsequent suicide, as was his former colleague, Andrew Martin, following his 2009 overdose death. Ice Hockey enforcer Derek Boogaard's death in May 2011 has been linked to CTE which may have developed as a result of bareknuckle fights. News of his ailment has sparked debate about the role of fighting in professional hockey.