Boston University | Horse Racing Free Tips

Did Alex Canchari Suffer from CTE?

Still seeking answers as to why Alex Canchari took his own life last week at the age of 29, his family has sent his brain to Boston University's Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Center to ascertain whether or not the jockey was suffering from CTE, the brain condition linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head. Several NFL players have committed suicide after suffering from CTE.

“We have sent Alex's brain in to Boston University to see if there was CTE present,” Canchari's sister Ashley told the TDN in an email. “It will take a few weeks, if not months, potentially to get back the results.”

“Personally, I think this is very likely,” Canchari told television station KMSP. “My brother told me multiple times, 'I have hit my head so much and I've fallen so many times off of horses. I think there is something wrong.'”

Studies have shown that CTE can lead to a number of symptoms, including depression, aggressive behavior and suicidal thoughts. It can only be diagnosed posthumously. CTE is most often associated with NFL players. In February, researchers at the Boston University CTE Center reported they had found CTE in 92% of the brains of 376 deceased NFL players they had studied. The list of NFL players that suffered from CTE and committed suicide includes Aaron Hernandez, Dave Duerson, Junior Seau, Andre Watters, Phillip Adams and Jovan Belcher.

According to a 2019 story in the Louisville Courier-Journal, research shows that horse racing has the highest concussion rate of any sport. Concussions can lead to CTE. According to a report from the University of Kentucky's Dr. Carl Mattacola released at the 2015 Jockey Club Welfare and Safety Summit, 8.6% of falls by jockeys during races from 2012 to 2015 resulted in concussions.

A 2017 report posted on a University of Kentucky website concluded: “At this time there is no data to document the incidence of CTE among jockeys, though anecdotal evidence exists; for example, the effects of Gwen Jocson's repeated concussions forced her retirement from racing in 1999.”

A gofundme.com page has been started for Canchari's fiancee Brooke-Lyn Klauser and Canchari's two children, Leon and Penelope. Another unborn child is due in August.

Klauser spoke to KMSP about Canchari's struggles.

“He wasn't really open about it,” she said. “But there were some signs that we could see that he was struggling. He was always very strong around me and the kids.”

The post Did Alex Canchari Suffer from CTE? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Researchers Move Closer To In-Life Diagnosis Of Disorder Caused By Traumatic Brain Injuries

A Boston University study has moved researchers closer to being able to diagnose one type of traumatic brain injury in living patients, reports the Boston Herald. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, is a disorder caused by repeated head trauma that first made headlines when several famous NFL players were diagnosed after their deaths. The disorder received additional headlines in 2015 with an Eclipse Award-winning Paulick Report feature about the dangers of multiple concussions for jockeys.

CTE can only be confirmed after a patient's death, but sufferers report dramatic mood shifts, cognition problems, and loss of coordination.

The new study utilized MRI scans of 55 deceased brain donors with CTE and 31 healthy brains, and showed that those with CTE had shrinkage of the brain in regions like the frontal lobe, temporal lobe and other structures such as the hippocampus, which has a major role in learning and memory.

Dr. Jesse Mez, study co-author, director of the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center, and a BU CTE Center investigator, explained that MRI might be able to be used to diagnose CTE in living patients. Diagnoses are vital for the development of treatments for the disorder.

“The only way we can develop a treatment is if we can diagnose it in life and have people with the diagnosis try the treatments,” said Dr. Mez.

A follow-up story in the Paulick Report in 2020 showed that the U.S. racing industry is still struggling with implementation of concussion protocols, and that some states have made more progress than others.

Read more about the Boston University CTE study at the Boston Herald.

The post Researchers Move Closer To In-Life Diagnosis Of Disorder Caused By Traumatic Brain Injuries appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Pat Lamberty, Former Suffolk TV Host and Centennial Farms Rep, Dies at 43

The New England racing community is mourning the loss of Patrick R. Lamberty, known for his work as a Suffolk Downs broadcast handicapper in the early 2000s, then later as the head of client management and sales for the Centennial Farms bloodstock and racing syndicate in his native Massachusetts. He was 43.

Lamberty died Dec. 16, 2020, in Pompano Beach, Florida. But it was not until Feb. 2 that news of his death began circulating among friends via an online tribute archive hosted by a cremation company that provided services for Lamberty.

No cause of death was listed on the tribute page. In the final years of his life, Lamberty fought to overcome an opioid addiction, according to friends who had extended help to him.

“P-Lam,” as he was fondly known, grew up as a multi-sport student athlete in the seacoast city of Revere, just a few furlongs from Suffolk Downs. He first became enthralled by horse racing when he and some neighborhood buddies would sneak into the track to watch the late-afternoon races when high school classes were done for the day.

In 1997, while earning a degree in business management studies from Boston University, Lamberty won an internship to work in the press box at Suffolk Downs. He spent several summers at Monmouth Park in a similar capacity.

Lamberty's aspiring knowledge of Thoroughbred pedigrees combined with a gregarious personality made him a natural fit for earning his way onto the Suffolk Downs “Paddock Preview” broadcast team in 1999. His confident willingness to take on additional on-air talent roles led to co-hosting a nightly TV replay show, a weekly radio program, and eventually serving as a backup race caller. He later parlayed this work into a TV handicapping gig for the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation.

In 2003, Lamberty took great pride in forming a small Suffolk-based racing stable with those same hometown buddies with whom he used to sneak into the track. Their very first acquisition ended up exceeding expectations to race at Saratoga.

Lamberty later rose through the ranks at Centennial Farms, where he was the point-person for the syndicate's clients into the early 2010s. He especially relished his roles in helping to select young horses at sales and giving insights on the progression of racing prospects.

Friends who recalled a storm-soaked P-Lam celebrating with unbridled enthusiasm at Monmouth after Corinthian splashed home first in the 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile for Centennial will probably never encounter a happier rain-drenched racetracker.

Lamberty later moved to New Orleans and then Florida to try his hand at various bloodstock ventures and racing partnerships, and he also represented several jockeys as an agent. He was divorced with no children.

Those who knew of his deep compassion for making sure horses were always well-treated are asking that donations honoring Lamberty's memory be made to benefit a Thoroughbred welfare program of the donor's choosing.

The post Pat Lamberty, Former Suffolk TV Host and Centennial Farms Rep, Dies at 43 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post