Boston University researchers claim to have developed a method that could lead to diagnosing Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in living patients, TSN's Rick Westhead reports.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease that's been found to be caused by repetitive blows to the head.

Researchers studied the brains of 23 former football players as well as non-athletes and patients with Alzheimer's, and found that the football players had an increased level of CCL11, a biomarker, Westhead reports.

"The findings of this study are the early steps toward identifying CTE during life," author Ann McKee, a director at Boston University's CTE Center, said in a release, per Westhead.

"Not only did this research show the potential for CTE diagnosis during life, but it also offers a possible mechanism for distinguishing between CTE and other diseases," Boston University postdoctoral fellow Jonathan Cherry added.

Former NFL players Junior Seau, Ken Stabler, and Aaron Hernandez are among those who have been diagnosed with CTE after their brains were examined posthumously.

Boston University - considered a leader in research into the disease - houses an independent academic research center established in 1996.

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