Research Confirms a Strong link Between Heading in Soccer and Dementia

Elite athletes have long been associated with a greater chance of developing dementia at an earlier age, but those who seek to defend high impact sports have pointed out that other factors, such as alcoholism, depression, and genetics may play a part.

Now, new data from the University of Glasgow in Scotland has dismissed those other factors in a study that observed soccer players who headed the ball, but changing the rules may have authorities cornered.

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The study, led by neuropathologists and professors working on the FIELD study, a project formed in 2019 to explore the lifelong health outcomes of former professional soccer players, found no evidence that “common modifiable risk factors” are responsible for the increased risk of dementia resulting from the sport.

How was the Study Carried Out?

Researchers looked at the health records of 11,984 former professional football players and cross-referenced them with 35,952 non-professional players, and compared key modifiable dementia risk factors including smoking, alcohol related disorders, diabetes, obesity, hearing disorders and hypertension.

What Were the Results?

The study found that:

• General health risk factors were similar or lower in the former professional soccer players
• The prevalence of dementia was much higher in the former pro soccer players, leading the team to believe that impacts such as heading the ball were more likely to have a causation link with their dementia

This data builds on previous studies: In 2019, the FIELD study demonstrated that former professional footballing stars endured a 3.5-times higher rate of death from contracting neurodegenerative diseases. Then, in 2021, it was shown that the longer a professional footballer maintained their career, the higher the risk of gaining dementia.

“Our latest results suggest the relationship between higher rates of neurodegenerative disease among former professional footballers is not driven by those wider general health and lifestyle factors, widely recognized as dementia risk factors,” said the latest study’s lead consultant, Professor Stewart. “As such, while interventions to address general health and lifestyle risk factors should remain recommended, the priority for neurodegenerative disease risk mitigation among contact sports athletes should continue to focus on the reduction, if not removal, of exposure to repetitive head impacts and traumatic brain injury, wherever practical.”

Why Changing the Rules is No Easy Goal

While numerous groups, such as “Head Safe Football,” are seeking to raise awareness around the dangers of repetitively heading the ball, a simple rule change would be no mean feat. Not only are many fans against the idea of penalizing players for heading the ball, much like the rules that are already in place for a hand ball, but a global ban would need the total agreement of every football playing nation or body.

How would it work when European games are played on UK soil? Or when teams get together for the World Cup? Still, the banning of heading the ball was already trialled in the 2023-24 season in England. This follows a raft of new measures, such as guidance from the football associations in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland that included the limiting of the practice during training.

Now, there are calls for heading the ball to be limited during adult training sessions too, in order to minimize the number of repeated headers that a player makes during a career, but in such a highly competitive sport, how would this be policed? Mandatory rules rather than guidance is needed, say lobby groups. “It is becoming a bigger issue every day,” said Goeff Hurst, talking to theweek.com.

Hurst scored a hat-trick in England’s hallowed victory in the 1966 World Cup final, and has backed calls for headers to be limited. “The bigger the issue gets, the more difficult it is for people in the higher levels of sport to step away from dealing with it. There is a strong, inarguable link. Anything that can be done to increase the research around this will be hugely beneficial to current and former players.”

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