Repeated head butts in soccer can cause cognitive impairment in adulthood

A study commissioned by the English Football Association (FA) revealed evidence that repeatedly heading the ball during a player’s career soccer player professional is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline later in life.

The independent assessment, commissioned jointly with the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), was carried out by the University of Nottingham and spoke to more than 450 retired professional footballers aged 45 and over.

“Former professional soccer players who participated in the study were asked to recall how many times they had headed the ball per typical game and per typical training session: zero to five, six to 15, and more than 15 times.”indicated.

“Those who remembered that they used to head the ball between six and 15 times in a match were 2.71 times more likely to score below the test threshold on the assessment of cognitive status than soccer players who used to head the ball between zero and five times”he added.

According to the study, former players who headed the ball in a match more than 15 times were even more likely to score below the test threshold. However, the researchers conceded that the methodology has several limitations and further study is needed.

The first conclusions of the study, published in June, established that former soccer players were 3.46 times more likely to suffer from neurodegenerative diseases.

In April, the total number of plaintiffs from a group of ex-footballers and ex-rugby players suffering from neurological impairments rose to 380 as they joined a class action lawsuit against their respective governing bodies.

The players allege that sports governing bodies failed to protect them from concussive and nonconcussive injuries that caused various disorders, including early-onset dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and motor neurone disease.

Source: Reuters