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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spokane neurosurgeon working on treatment for CTE

Mark Rypien is part of what is called the NFL Concussion Settlement, a court ruling expected to provide financial relief to retired players living with the lasting scars of an NFL career. There are 5 diseases outlined in the settlement: Parkinsons, Alzheimers, ALS, Memory Loss and CTE, a degenerative brain disease which can lead to dementia and impaired impulse judgememnt. Right now CTE can only be definitively diagnosed after a person dies. But doctors are working on treating it before that happens. One Spokane Neurosurgeaon, Dr. David Greeley, is working on a treatment method called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS. TMS is a noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. Dr. Greeley says his research is giving him, and others, hope for this degenerative disease.