Dementia and Football Link

[Wymsey]

It's been highlighted up until a few weeks ago in ex-footballers having an increased chance of developing dementia later in life due to having a career that often involved that heading a ball.

 

Billy McNeill, a Celtic legend, was this week revealed to having the condition and now sadly unable to speak and his family want further research into the possible (though for good reason considering the sport) links between football and dementia or brain-related injuries.

 

Though I understand research is being increasingly requested by ex-player's families and ex-players themselves recently (including Alan Shearer, who is set to front a documentary about this) - but I'm personally unsure how it would help the game in terms of preventing any condition from happening after players finish etc, or is it more to help Sports Science teams at football clubs, or to try to appease the neutrals that heading simply must not be in the game either in training or in competitions regularly?

 

 

 

 

 

[ozleicester]

Very sad.. and quite likely appears true.

 

As a Centre Half/Sweeper who spent 15 years heading punted sunday league balls back up the park. I can see it coming (It took my dad, who was also a Centre Half).

 

Especially when you think back when in the 70s and 80s the balls were those old leather bustards that turned into medicine balls once they got wet.

 

The skull and neck crushing wallop as you headed back a keepers sky high kick out left me a bit woozy more than once.

[Manwell Pablo]

On 2/28/2017 at 00:45, Wymeswold fox said:

It's been highlighted up until a few weeks ago in ex-footballers having an increased chance of developing dementia later in life due to having a career that often involved that heading a ball.

 

Billy McNeill, a Celtic legend, was this week revealed to having the condition and now sadly unable to speak and his family want further research into the possible (though for good reason considering the sport) links between football and dementia or brain-related injuries.

 

Though I understand research is being increasingly requested by ex-player's families and ex-players themselves recently (including Alan Shearer, who is set to front a documentary about this) - but I'm personally unsure how it would help the game in terms of preventing any condition from happening after players finish etc, or is it more to help Sports Science teams at football clubs, or to try to appease the neutrals that heading simply must not be in the game either in training or in competitions regularly?

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can't take heading out. Sports doesn't come without risks and if you play any sport regularly it will deteriorate a part of your body it's natural wear and tear, in fact natural wear and tear is just part of life. McNeill is an old man lets remember and he will be very close to Britians current life expectancy when the disease gets the better of him, the modern desperation to remove everything that is fun about life in a what could well turn out to be totally in vain attempt to live to 107 has always confused me. Something is going to kill you eventually you can't avoid it. 

 

I'd imagine they would attempt to somehow look at making alterations to the ball itself, god knows what they'd do but some clever people in sports science these days. 

[Finnaldo]

4 hours ago, Manwell Pablo said:

I'd imagine they would attempt to somehow look at making alterations to the ball itself, god knows what they'd do but some clever people in sports science these days. 

 

It wouldn't surprise me if we saw a ball one day that had a built in 'shock-absorber' system to limit the impact it actually has with your head. I don't it will never be as much of a problem nowadays though as like Oz said they're not cannonballs like they used to be.

[Wymsey]

This Sunday, a television programme is scheduled involving a documentary showing potential links football-heading and Dementia - introduced by Alan Shearer, who is tested himself for any brain damage incurred from the sport. Quite eye-opening really..

 

This link explains the topic and the experiences ex-footballer's families have gone through since their loved ones had been affected by this link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41902953

[fuchsntf]

Before we go down any line of thought, what might seems the obvious.

I would like to see, the other balance to the discussion.

How many ex- footballers, regular amateurs through  to profis, haven't suffered from dementia.

Plus the one who have, at what age did it start to appear .

 

I have known in my circles of relations and friends, many who have passed away or still living, who suffered,

from various levels of dementia, but were never involved in "heady" sports, even some of them fit but not sporting

folk.

Further research, and comparisons, plus how do the weights and balances sort themselves.

Lofthouse..85yrs  Laughton 76yrs..Tom Finney...92yrs were headers of the real heavy hardest balls.

This is no way trying to belittle, the suffering of anyone involved, but there are other areas that can compound

the issue. Footballers/sportsman who were heavy drinkers, also have a history of dementia.

Connections , I am sure will be indicated and found, but how does or what is the real effect in the great scheme of things.

 

Again this is not denying the need of such studies..

 

[dsr-burnley]

It's one that they need to look at statistics for.  Do professional footballers suffer more from dementia than other men?  It should be an easy enough stat to calculate.

 

You certainly can't assume that footballers with dementia got it from heading the ball.  Two of Burnley's championship side of 1959-60 died with dementia.  Tommy Cummings was one; centre half, headed the ball a lot.  Adam Blacklaw was the other; headed the ball not at all.

[Kitchandro]

An awful lot of people have dementia. Sounds like crazy talk to say it's to do with heading balls. 

 

Even if it is, are thousands of players just going to give up their careers on health grounds?

[Fox92]

37 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

An awful lot of people have dementia. Sounds like crazy talk to say it's to do with heading balls. 

 

Even if it is, are thousands of players just going to give up their careers on health grounds?

It's a contribution to dementia (or at least that's what they are researching), not the sole reason.

[Fox92]

I watched the programme Shearer did about the link. I thought it was a decent programme, and sad too, to make people aware of the possible link but it's not going to change anything in the game as you can't take heading out of football. But training sessions might change. 

[purpleronnie]

I never saw the programme, but is there a link now to footballers heading the ball to dementia or from decades ago?.

 

The reason I ask is the ball back then due to the materials used would absorb water easily and weigh more.

[Daggers]

Could explain Dean's plugging of Julie's smelly stuff, I guess.