Page 350 - Total War on PTSD

The study’s duration was 189 days during the practice and football season. The TCU study was the first large-scale effort to: 1) examine the potential prophylactic use of Omega-3s in American football, and 2) identify the optimal dose of DHA to suggest a neuro-protective effect with supplementation. Additionally, they did a second study comparing baseline, pre-season blood measures of a possible biological marker of head trauma, and evaluated levels in players throughout the season. Published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, the TCU research team found substantial increases over the course of a football season of serum neuro-filament light polypeptide protein, particularly in starting players. As they reported, “These data suggest that a season of collegiate American football is associated with elevations in serum NFL (neuro-filament light), which is indicative of axonal injury, as a result of head impacts.”
The results of the DHA were equally impressive. After reviewing past concussion rates and rates of concussions on teams of similar size, investigators expected, on average, fourteen concussions that year. Yet, only six concussions were documented in the 2014 season. We don't know if it was because of the Omega-3s or not, but a 50% drop in a single year is compelling even though the numbers are too small to really put a lot of scientific credence into it. More importantly, they found that DHA attenuated or decreased the amount of serum neuro-filament light. Basically, supplementation with DHA reduced this important biomarker associated with head injury.
This study, published in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, makes clear that while American football athletes are exposed to sub-concussive impacts over the course of a season resulting in elevations of biomarkers of axonal injury, taking
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