New, compelling links between football and neurodegenerative diseases

[sirstevefleming]

I'll give it a read is that on the link?

Might be behind pay wall - the abstract is on New England journal of medicine front page.

The PFA will be sitting a little uneasy over the next while - suspect there is a few lawyers already onto this. Perhaps a few of the NFL lads on here could give us an insight into law suits in the US.......

 

[TimzRFudz]

I'll give it a read is that on the link?

If you click through onto the tweet in my OP, you can then click onto a link that discusses the paper on the uni page mate. At the right hand side there's a link to the NEJM - you can read the abstract (or the whole thing if you have access or are on an academic VPN etc). If you want to read the whole thing and can't get access let me know and I'll see what I can do. The summary on the uni page is fairly decent though.

 

[Avengers]

This study was also done on players that were born in the 70's and could have been still playing 10 years ago, when the ball was significantly lighter than the old leather ball from back in the day. The general problem is that they don't know what links non sports players to these illnesses.

 

[Kingging]

So this study links playing football long term with brain conditions but not necessarily heading the ball. Apart from the socio economic argument have other sports been looked at too. For example could repeated short sprinting have an effect with the degree of shaking and raised blood pressure. So have there been control studies with the likes of athletes tennis and hockey. If there's less risk with other sports what could it be other than heading the ball.

 

[highlandloyalKW10]

Most of this research done on 8000 former players , would have majority been on players that played in times with heavy leather balls . If data was taken over time , on next 8000 from this generation , figures will be much improve imo .

Lighter balls will almost certainly improve these figures mate , personally I think in some quarters they will push for an outright ban , and sadly the game will NEVER be the same .

I was thinking this myself. You are better teaching people how to head the ball properly.

 

[nybear]

Or use a much lighter ball.

they are now, the players they are looking at grew up heading a wet leather bladder or a heavy mitre.

its like braking distance which is measured on a ford cortina mark 1 and not what we have now.

 

[sirstevefleming]

Even if they do introduce a concussion bin - I wouldn’t trust many of the football medics to be able to utilize it properly, particularly in Scotland

 

[TimzRFudz]

So this study links playing football long term with brain conditions but not necessarily heading the ball. Apart from the socio economic argument have other sports been looked at too. For example could repeated short sprinting have an effect with the degree of shaking and raised blood pressure. So have there been control studies with the likes of athletes tennis and hockey. If there's less risk with other sports what could it be other than heading the ball.

All of that work has yet to see the light of day mate, but it will, trust me.

If you go back to the documentary with Shearer it's really informative (and scary) regarding even the acute effects of heading a ball. I think it might have been Stewart who made the comment that he wouldn't let his kids header a ball the day before an exam, the data on short term cognitive effects was so clear.

 

[TimzRFudz]

Even if they do introduce a concussion bin - I wouldn’t trust many of the football medics to be able to utilize it properly, particularly in Scotland

Have to comment on that - any issues with concussion tests are not to do with the medics mate. The player themselves and the managers are the culpable people here.

On top of that, a surprising number of professional clubs in Scotland don't have a doc.

Finally, the current study wasn't looking at concussion - it was looking at whether former players are more likely to have neurodegenerative diseases, which they are. The mechanistic stuff comes next, but it's more likely to be about minor to moderate repeated impacts rather than the occasional serious (concussion causing) whack.

 

[Sheik Ma Shammy]

The balls now are a lot better I still remember playing with the balls that had laces holding the bladder in and when wet was like heading a medicine ball if you didn't use dubbin.
showing my age here.

 

[A kind of blue]

Me too, mate.

Not necessarily one of the best but a favourite.

Loved it, aged around 15 or so. Jo na than. Jo na than! Good read too, short story called Rollerball Murder.

 

[Starting Anew]

If that does happen then I'll put money on pushy parents teaching kids it in thier own time to gain an advantage.

Would the sport be any worse off for getting rid of heading entirely?

can’t really say about better or worse but it would definitely be a different game. Different dynamics of wing play and crosses - might favour defenders as what would be the point of crosses or might favour attackers as defenders have to let the ball drop before they can touch it thereby making it a bit harder to control where it is going. Might also lead to *more* injuries as both strikers and defenders compete for full-force volleys off each others’ shins rather than shoulder to shoulder jumps to header.

Also would make clearances very different. The defending team would have to take the ball to feet giving attackers more time to crowd them.

Of course the other thing would be to say that the ball can’t go above shoulder height at all. That works in 5s but would be a nightmare on a full size pitch and would make top corner shots impossible and so is almost certainly unworkable.