A-head of the Science: Concussions, Dementia, and World Cup Soccer

July 12, 2018

During my own amazing (tongue in cheek) soccer career, circa 1977 through 1984, my father cautioned against the use of the “footballers” favorite weapon: headers.  I followed my father’s sage advice, and thank goodness – as it turns out, he was not being overly cautious.

A 2017 study of the brains of 14 World Cup soccer players from England’s 1966 World Cup team indicate that repeated head impacts sustained in soccer may cause dementia.  The study, by University College London and Britain’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, showed that these soccer players had a much higher incidence of dementia than the general population.

The players in the study suffered an abnormal incidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)—the same condition that plagues many football players in the United States, and which has caused such an uproar in the NFL (uproar meaning $1 billion settlement).

Due to a small sample size, no formal conclusions were drawn by the scientists in the 2017 release study.  However, the study appears to have warranted more work. In January 2018, the University of Glasgow began a study entitled “Football’s Influence on Lifelong Health and Dementia Risk” (the “FIELD study”).

The FIELD Study researchers aim to:

Aim 1: Compare the incidence of neurodegenerative disease, including dementia, in former professional footballers to a matched general population comparison group.

Aim 2: Compare the incidence of chronic physical and mental health conditions in former professional footballers to a matched general population comparison group.

Aim 3: Compare all-cause and disease-specific mortality in former professional footballers to a matched general population comparison group.

Aim 4: Register former footballers for autopsy brain donation for diagnostic assessment at the time of death to inform on neurodegenerative pathologies in this population.

(aims taken from the FIELD Study Ph.D. project description).

The evidence continues to point toward a need for greater vigilance of brain health throughout our lives.

Take care of your brain, and it will take care of you.

https://www.findaphd.com/search/projectdetails.aspx?PJID=92042

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