A neurodegenerative disease attributed to the cumulative harm of repetitive head injuries, CTE has been found posthumously in male boxers, footballers and other contact sports players around the world, including in Australia, where last month it was diagnosed for the first time in a female athlete, former AFL player Heather Anderson.
But the sports brain banks that study CTE collect many more male brains than female ones, which has limited research on the condition in women. And coroners are legally restricted in directing autopsy procedures for the broader community — and aren’t always privy to domestic violence victims’ histories of abuse — meaning screening for CTE, in most cases, isn’t even considered.
“We should be screening for CTE in the brains of everyone who dies unexpectedly, regardless of homicide, suicide, accident, whatever,” said Michael Buckland, head of the Department of Neuropathology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and founder of the Australian Sports Brain Bank.
“We know CTE can start off very insidiously – it can affect judgement, insight, mood; it can also lead to drug and alcohol abuse. So I think … there will be a subset of mostly women that will end up having CTE as a result of domestic violence — I’m as sure as I can be given it has already been reported in the literature.”
In Australia, however, there may be legal and ethical challenges standing in the way. One, in New South Wales, is the Coroner’s Act, which requires that cause of death be determined in the least invasive way possible.
It can also be difficult to gather crucial information without distressing families and, in cases of domestic violence, the next-of-kin who can consent to an autopsy might be the perpetrator.
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