At the risk of sounding like a Super Bowl Scrooge (and I do love football and intend to enjoy the game), I was troubled by new data about the long-term effects of concussion. Comparisons of former athletes showed that those who had experience concussions in early adulthood experienced deficits in attention, memory, and movement thirty years later that did not occur in athletes with no history of concussion. The athletes in the study were all healthy, but the authors remained concerned that they might be at greater risk of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Heading the ball can lead to brain damage
This is not too surprising, given past research in the area of concussion. Previous work showed that soccer players performed significantly more poorly than swimmers and track and field athletes on tests of attention, memory, and planning [2]. Cerebral atrophy was found in one third of the former members of the Norwegian soccer team [3]. You might not think of soccer as a contact sport, but players receive frequent injuries while heading the ball and running into each other, the ground, and the goalposts.
Dr. Kushner summarizes recommendations for returning to play following a head injury, but one wonders if these will be modified in light of new information.
Will such knowledge deter athletes who want to continue playing following a concussion? I doubt it.
1. De Beaumont, L., Theoret, H., Mongeon, D., Messier, J., Leclerc, S., Tremblay, S., Ellemberg, D., & Lassonde, M. (2009). Brain function decline in healthy retured athletes who sustained their last sports concussion in early adulthood. Brain, doi:10.1093/brain/awn347
2. Matser, E.J.T., Kessels, A.G., Lezak, M.D., Jordan, B.D., & Troost, J. (1999). Neuropsychological impairment in amateur soccer players. JAMA, 282, 971-973.
3. Matser, E.J.T., Kessels, A.G., Jordan, B.D., Lezak, M.D., & Troost, J. (1998). Chronic traumatic brain injury in professional soccer players. Neurology, 51, 791-796.
11 Comments
bbautist · January 30, 2009 at 1:57 pm
New data on concussions and its long-term effects should be addressed more often to athletes, but it shouldn’t hinder the physicality of any sport or discourage others from participating. New data should merely make athletes more aware and avoid any head-to-head contact. Its unfortunate that extreme symptoms of concussions occur later on in life, but with new data and research I’m sure programs will be implemented to develop ways to avoid these effects. I hope new knowledge on concussions doesn’t hinder athlete participation; in addition, it will be a shame if the competitive nature of sports is jeopardized. It’s inevitable for injury to occur while playing any sport…
krusch · January 30, 2009 at 2:26 pm
This new information released about concussions is interesting and to me seems very likely. Athletes get concussions very often, but that is part of the risks a person takes when they decide to play the game. Concussions are something that are common in everyday life too, the concussions are just not usually as severe and often as contact sports. I have received slight concussions in everyday life-not bad enough to see a doctor about but enough to be more careful about. Hopefully the new information about concussions will make youth sports leagues have better rules and more safety precautions towards concussions.
Mhusband · January 30, 2009 at 3:29 pm
My brother and my boyfriend are both rugby players and prone to concussions. Both of them have had at least 3 major concussions. As much as I tell them that they will be brain dead one day, they continue to go on playing. I’m glad this new information came out on the long-term affects on concussions because I feel I have actual evidence to back up my concern. However, even if I tell them what I know, they will probably still continue on playing rugby.
rsheffel3 · January 30, 2009 at 3:34 pm
This is a very interesting study that I have seen play out in my personal life time and time again. I was part of a competitive soccer team in high school. During these 4 years, head injuries were just as common as ankle and knee injuries in this aggressive came that I came to love. I always wondered what the long term repercussions of heading the ball were. In a my junior year, a close team mate went up to head a ball, and was head butted in the back of her head. From that point in time, everything in her life changed. As a result of this one incident, she now is epileptic. She must live on a day to day basis controlled strictly by her medications and in fear of another seizure (grand mal). She chose to keep playing for our senior year, but it was easy to tell that no one was comfortable with her decision. Additionally, because of her medications, she is a completely different person. She is no longer able to partake in normal “college” activities. Drinking is forbidden and sleep is of the utmost importance.
This one dramatic incident in my life has allowed me to seriously question the level of competitiveness in sports I want my children to participate in. After all, isn’t the purpose of competitive sports exercise and good clean fun?
Alexscharf · January 31, 2009 at 7:54 pm
This new information seems concerning new athletes and retired ones. A great example of how I have seen this phenomenon is watching Muhammad Ali give a speech. This is a man who got payed to take punches to the body and even face. In his youth he was very quick witted and sputtered out inspiration. However, now it is quite sad. He can barely talk and his daughter has to help him around. Boxing is a contact sport, but I guess that Soccer and Rugby would have high rates too due to the lack of helmets. I do not think that this data will change the way people play the game but it might be beneficial for people who construct helmets and pads to know that new structures could help reduce some of the impact.
Sageman4u · February 5, 2009 at 11:56 am
When I used to play soccer, I used to hate heading the ball. I could never do it well, not to mention that I was always wary that I would hurt my head. In fact, whenever the ball was kicked up high, and I was expected to head the ball, I would always pretend to go for the header but then intentionally miss just so that I wouldn’t have to hit the ball with my head. It’s no wonder that my soccer prospects were next to nil.
I never really warmed up to the idea of a header, and now I definitely don’t regret not doing headers that much – not to say that a few headers here and there ever did much harm.
This new information is enlightening, if not surprising. Hopefully, research like this can be more widely circulated so that people can use their heads in the manner intended.
raquelart22 · February 5, 2009 at 11:59 am
I personally know several soccer players and one of their favorite aspects of the game is passing the ball via their head. It makes senses that a soccer player is damaging some part of the brain, I would think mainly the fore brain. Maybe the soccer ball companies can start making their soccer balls more lighter. This data will not discourage people who want to play soccer or people who are already soccer players. Each sport has its life long affects that eventually caught up with every player. I think the best advise to be given to a soccer player is monitor as best you can not to pass the ball via your head and defend yourself and brain as best you can.
ewalter · March 2, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I never really thought about the long term effects of a concussion but the data seems to make sense that it would eventually effect you. It’s sad to know that this can happen though because i have had atleast two concussions. No wonder i have a short attention span.
jpham05 · March 12, 2009 at 2:39 pm
It’s not surprising to me that concussions are found to have long lasting effects. The amount of impact to the head that athletes such as soccer and football players experience are brutal. It makes me cringe sometimes when I see football players ram into each other. I would hope that this new data influences the safety of certain sports, but I agree that it most likely won’t. This topic makes me think about the sport of boxing. Boxers must also experience long term effects of constant impacts to their head.
JoeGaldamez · May 19, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I never considered if there were ever any harmful, long-term effects with concussions. I guess my naive mind believed if one can pull themselves back on their feet after a strong blow to the head, then everything is A-O-Kay. Obviously, that’s no the case. It’s quite unsettling that concussions can have such an impact on our brains. Just proves that we need to be extremely careful with this precious organ, especially athletes.
jeffcurry · May 21, 2009 at 9:44 am
I’ve never played soccer, but I have been a football player (D-line, linebacker, tight end) since fourth grade. In that time, mainly in my high school career, I’ve suffered numerous concussions (one severe enough that sitting, standing, and bending over all made me extremely dizzy and disoriented) and have never once seen a doctor about it nor stopped playing because of the concussions. I feel fine now, but this article is an eye opener for what the activities of my past may have in store for me in the future. Coupled with the fact that my great grandpa has Alzheimers, my grandma is forgetful, and my Dad is forgetful has me a little worried about what I may be in store for. At the same time, I do not believe that this risk should deter people from contact sports. Contact sports are what they are, and participants should know already that there are dangers.
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