Study Says Brain Trauma Can Mimic Lou Gehrig’s Disease

New York Times ^ | 08/17/10 | Alan Schwarz

[DFG]

In the 71 years since the Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig declared himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” despite dying from a disease that would soon bear his name, he has stood as America’s leading icon of athletic valor struck down by random, inexplicable fate.

A peer-reviewed paper to be published Wednesday in a leading journal of neuropathology, however, suggests that Gehrig’s demise — and that of some other athletes and soldiers given a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — might have been catalyzed by injuries only now becoming understood: concussions and other brain trauma.

[Ghengis]

After Muhammad Ali’s neurological issues developed, I often wondered about another former heavyweight champ, Ezzard Charles. He was diagnosed with ALS and presumably died from this. He had a long boxing career and suffered brutal knockout losses in bouts with Jersey Joe Walcott and Rocky Marciano.