By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalitis, is a term that meant very little to the vast majority of physicians before the last year or so but CTE is now a hot button issue in sports where head trauma is a significant risk.

In simplest terms, CTE is a condition associated with head trauma linked to long term problems like depression and dementia.

Here we are in Super Bowl week and one of the top stories is the family of the late football star Junior Seau’s lawsuit against the NFL, linking his suicide to brain damage from years of play.

The courts will deal with this and scientists will look at treatments but the bigger issue to keep in the back of your mind as you see your next football game – at any level – is what should we do to eliminate or dramatically reduce damage to the brain?