Deaths from heatstroke in otherwise healthy young people could be linked to sports head injuries, a leading doctor has warned.
It was revealed Keith Titmuss, an Australian rugby player who died of overheating in 2020, also suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - a brain condition that affects the hypothalamus, which regulates temperature. Researchers have found at least five more examples of a possible link between the two.
“We cannot say there is a definite link between sporting concussions and the body’s failure to regulate temperature - but we also cannot rule out this connection,” Neuroradiologist Dr Emer MacSweeney said. “What is very odd is that a fit, healthy player would die of heatstroke and then be found to have suffered from stage two CTE. We know that CTE affects the hypothalamus, which controls body temperature.
“It’s quite obvious this potential link needs to be studied. Sporting authorities need to properly investigate this issue immediately.”
Aged 20 when he died in November 2020, gifted rugby league player Keith Titmuss was among the youngest ever diagnosed with CTE.
An inquest found he had become agitated and suffered several seizures after taking part in a two-hour training session that was 'more likely than not inappropriate'.
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Paramedics were called after his temperature reached almost 42C.
But doctors later discovered he had developed stage two CTE, likely from repeated head knocks.
Caroline Dinenage, chair of the ’ Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: “The links between sporting concussions and brain injuries are becoming increasingly common and deeply concerning. This and other potential correlations between illness and collisions require proper scrutiny from relevant sporting authorities, parliament and the media.”
Richard Boardman, the Rylands Garth lawyer representing former rugby players in the case against many of the sport’s authorities, said: “This potential link adds further credence to our belief that up to one in two elite rugby players will suffer some form of brain damage because of the sport.”
