Story highlights Brain inflammation is associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

More than 90 professional football players have been diagnosed with CTE

(CNN) Inflammation in the brain has been associated with neurodegernative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and a new study links it for the first time to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

The researchers compared the brains of 48 former football players diagnosed with CTE with the brains of 18 players who didn't have the disease and those of 16 non-players. They found that those who had increased hits to the head, even though they hadn't been diagnosed with CTE, had increased inflammation. That inflammation increased with a longer time playing football and with CTE severity.

What is CTE?

football players who donated their brains for research have been diagnosed with the Alzheimer's-like neurodegerative disease. Some of the best-known players diagnosed with CTE include Hall of Famer and San Diego Charger CTE is believed to be a result of repeated trauma to the head. More than 90 former professionalfootball players who donated their brains for research have been diagnosed with the Alzheimer's-like neurodegerative disease. Some of the best-known players diagnosed with CTE include Hall of Famer and San Diego Charger Junior Seau, who killed himself in May 2012 at the age of 43, and legendary sportscaster and Hall of Famer Frank Gifford , who died of natural causes in August 2015 at the age of 84.

Though it has similar symptoms to Alzheimer's -- including memory loss, mood swings and depression -- it has a distinct pathology, with an abnormal protein called tau taking over specific regions of the brain.

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