Jarrett Bell column: Tony Dorsett talks about stem cells in bid to treat neurological issues,
Dorsett, others take charge of health, new treatment options
Just like old times, Tony Dorsett was quick to the punch line.
“I don’t know how I’m going to get any more concussions now, unless my wife hits me upside the head,” he told me Wednesday. “And she knows better.” It was good to hear that Dorsett’s sense of humor is still intact, even though the Hall of Fame running back will get serious on a dime and somberly tell you that his memory routinely escapes him. Neurological issues, which he suspects are linked to the hits he absorbed on the football field, have dogged him for years.
“Some days, bruh, I get so frustrated, I don’t know what to do,” he said.
Dorsett, 61, has undergone controversial stem cell treatment in Mexico amid his latest attempt to address symptoms that he believes suggest he’s living with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disease that was found in Junior Seau, Dave Duerson and dozens of other former football players after their deaths.
There’s no scientific test that can definitively diagnose CTE among living people. Confirmation is found with tau protein levels in brain tissue. But try selling that to Dorsett or other ex-players dealing with conditions that can be associated with dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or Parkin- son’s disease. In Dorsett’s case, he maintains that he has tried myriad treatments, including an oxygen chamber, all to no long-term avail. That’s why he figures he has nothing to lose with the type of stem cell treatments he has had, which have not been approved for use in the USA.
“I’ve got hope,” he said. “It’s my health. I’m not going to lose faith. I’m going to keep fighting.”
Dorsett, who starred for the Dallas Cowboys from 1977 to 1987, exemplifies a seemingly more proactive mind-set among former players dealing with their neurological conditions. That coincides with increased attention in recent years on the long-term effects of head injuries, which was the basis for a $900 million settlement of the class-action suit brought against the NFL by former players that is under appeal.
“The awareness, that’s what’s really changed,” William Focazio, founder of P.A.S.T. (Pain Alternatives, Solutions & Treatment), a New Jersey-based program that has treated nearly 100 retired players for a variety of health issues, told USA TODAY Sports.
Although specifics are dependent on an individual’s symptoms and history, the P.A.S.T. program for dealing with effects of head trauma includes supplements and a diet designed to lower inflammation. Focazio contends that while there is no test for diagnosing CTE in the living, information from CAT scans can provide clues for how the brain is affected.
“You have to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” he said.
He’s also bullish on the notion that stem cell treatments could be a major breakthrough. Focazio said he was in the process of identifying former players to receive such treatment, having been approached by Jackie Sherrill, the former coach who recruited Dor- sett for the process.
But not everyone is ready to jump on that bandwagon.
Micky Collins, executive director of the concussion program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center — which, ironically, is at the school where Dorsett and Sherrill’s longtime bond began — told USA TODAY Sports that he wouldn’t recommend such treatment at this point.
“I don’t see any science where stem cells will help with that problem,” he said. “I don’t know.”
Still, Collins, who heads a program that sees 20,000 patients a year, believes science has advanced to the point where there are other viable treatments that begin with identifying distinct profiles of cases that direct methods for treatment. A broad shift change has occurred among concussion experts, he said, that now endorses physical activity during the early stages of concussion treatment.
But with an evolving landscape, there’s such gray area. And fear.
A recent Harris Polls cited that 25% of adult respondents won’t allow their kids to play contact sports because of concerns about concussions, while 20% don’t view concussions as a treatable injury.
“The pendulum has swung,” said Collins, reflecting back to the late 1990s. “When I started, not many people cared.”
They sure care now. Ask Dorsett.
“You start thinking, ‘Is this going to work?’ ” he said of various treatments.
Dorsett blasts NFL owners for not telling players more about long-term effects of concussions. “It was inhuman,” he contends. And though his humor remains, so does his bite. And while expressing that he has no regrets, there are echoes of the macho culture that many contend has changed through football’s concussion crisis.
“I’m a football player,” Dorsett said. “We play through pain.
“With that being said, none of us knew the damage we were doing to our brains.”