Legendary NFL quarterback Brett Favre revealed he received a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease inJanuary. According to Favre, five specialists have told him that his Parkinson’s probably resulted from the hits he sustained in his 20 years in the NFL. Favre, who has been outspoken about his history of concussions, believes he sustained not dozens or hundreds, but likely thousands of concussions during his career.

In recent years, we’ve come to understand the toll brain injury takes on athletes playing contact sports. Studies of the brains of deceased former NFLers have shown a strong link between repeated hits to the head and CTE, a progressive brain disease. Studies have similarly identified a connection between traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease.

Changes have been made by the NFL in rules, protocol and helmets. The result: we have made the game safer but have not and will never eliminate concussions, repeated brain injuries, and their aftermath.

The concussion epidemic and repeated head impacts are rightly getting much more attention, but more needs to be done. We need to continue to advance our understanding of the brain and the link between head impacts and neurodegenerative diseases so we can develop effective treatments. While we watch and sympathize as former football players and other athletes struggle with dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, depression and suicidal thoughts, it becomes clearer and clearer, that we need to find therapeutic approaches to treat the underlying damage from a traumatic brain injury. We need greater private investment in research and development of effective treatments. The Federal Government must increase funding to credible companies conducting research and development in this field.

Science is our only real solution to turning the corner on our understanding and successful treatment of brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. We see our NFL heroes like Brett Favre in the past and Tua Tagovailoa in the present suffer from injuries sustained on the field and it makes headline news. We need to protect those players or America’s love affair with football could be in jeopardy. We also must find a treatment to protect all Americans who suffer brain injuries – not just those on the playing field, but also those on the battlefield, on the road and in our own homes.

Michael Wyand, DVM, PhD, is CEO of Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals. Oxeia is conducting Phase 2 human clinical studies for its therapeutic drug, OXE 103, to treat concussions.

Chris Nowinski, PhD, is cofounder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, cofounder of the Veterans Affairs-Boston University-CLF Brain Bank and an advisor to Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals. A former AllIvy defensive tackle for Harvard University and WWE professional wrestler, he suffers from PCS symptoms 16 years later.