Football and Dementia

[summerisle]

Very sad story today about Frank Worthington. In recent years more and more footballers are experiencing dementia, probably through playing football. Ray Wilson and Alan Jarvis examples from Everton, but there are many others :

Football and dementia: players who died with or are living with the disease

Our chronicle of some of the players affected by dementia includes several members of England’s 1966 World Cup squad

www.theguardian.com

It's not just football of course, there's been recently a lot of rugby players, both union and league suffering the same problems. The solutions of course would be difficult : banning heading in training ? Stricter protocols on head injuries - a month out of playing any football ? There's so much money though in football I would surmise that a lot of hot air will be exhaled but little actual action taken.

Thoughts ?

 

[Prevenger17]

I'm not saying there's no link, but there are a lot of footballers and dementia is a very common disease in old people. Can they prove the causality?

 

[dead_soft]

I'm not saying there's no link, but there are a lot of footballers and dementia is a very common disease in old people. Can they prove the causality?

I think they've proven that repeated heading over a short space of time alters brain function in the short term which can lead to long term effects. It's still relatively new science and is still being tested.

I suppose I'm relatively on the side of stopping heading for younger players but then it's difficult, if you do see a link not to ban it for all ages. There aren't many jobs where it'd be acceptable to tell someone to keep doing something that will likely cause serious later harm.

 

[Prevenger17]

I suppose I'm relatively on the side of stopping heading for younger players but then it's difficult, if you do see a link not to ban it for all ages. There aren't many jobs where it'd be acceptable to tell someone to keep doing something that will likely cause serious later harm.

I think if you were to ban something like heading, you might have to do it at all levels. Not going to lie, I 'kin love a good header but the more that science expands on this, the more liable football institutions are going to be for the sorts of long term brain injuries that can result from it. It would be sad to see heading taken from the game, but if it's dangerous then I'm all for it.

*looks wistfully at photos of Tim Cahill leaping like a salmon

 

[dead_soft]

I think if you were to ban something like heading, you might have to do it at all levels. Not going to lie, I 'kin love a good header but the more that science expands on this, the more liable football institutions are going to be for the sorts of long term brain injuries that can result from it. It would be sad to see heading taken from the game, but if it's dangerous then I'm all for it.

*looks wistfully at photos of Tim Cahill leaping like a salmon

Yeah, it's a difficult one, my instinct is to say heading can't be banned but it's also quite hard to say footballers should do it because they're well paid, or because they take their chances.

 

[Lee Smith]

When many of these affected retired footballers actually played the game, although there was a specification on the weight of the football when dry, there was no specification on how much weight the balls could gain through water absorption. Nowadays, a wet football weighs the same as a dry football, in the past, a wet football would have been substantially heavier due to the materials used. I would imagine (though have zero evidence to back this up), that heading a football in the 50's/60's/70's "on a wet Tuesday evening in Stoke" would have had a much more detrimental affect on a player than it would today.

 

[degsy]

Very sad story today about Frank Worthington. In recent years more and more footballers are experiencing dementia, probably through playing football. Ray Wilson and Alan Jarvis examples from Everton, but there are many others :

Football and dementia: players who died with or are living with the disease

Our chronicle of some of the players affected by dementia includes several members of England’s 1966 World Cup squad

www.theguardian.com

It's not just football of course, there's been recently a lot of rugby players, both union and league suffering the same problems. The solutions of course would be difficult : banning heading in training ? Stricter protocols on head injuries - a month out of playing any football ? There's so much money though in football I would surmise that a lot of hot air will be exhaled but little actual action taken.

Thoughts ?

Alzheimers causes dementia.
Dementia has a number of causes.
People get dementia at different ages...for different reasons, they have or had different occupations...both men and women.
With all the variables its going to be a very complicated graph just to get a statistical picture...and beyond all in here.
I think we can all agree though, that repeated blows to the head may not be good for you...but neither is breathing welding fumes for 45yrs, which is about how long I've been heading football's for season after season...and I've done both.
I know I'm not as mentally quick as I was ten years ago...over to you @Methuselah

 

[degsy]

I think if you were to ban something like heading, you might have to do it at all levels. Not going to lie, I 'kin love a good header but the more that science expands on this, the more liable football institutions are going to be for the sorts of long term brain injuries that can result from it. It would be sad to see heading taken from the game, but if it's dangerous then I'm all for it.

*looks wistfully at photos of Tim Cahill leaping like a salmon

Queensland Football have recently banned heading for all U12s.
tbf, nobody in my grand daughters team of U9s would even attempt to head it, quite the opposite, they'd duck out of the way.
I think heading comes in with boys teams 12 and over. Monkey see Tim Cahill, DCL monkey do

 

[Methuselah]

Alzheimers causes dementia.
Dementia has a number of causes.
People get dementia at different ages...for different reasons, they have or had different occupations...both men and women.
With all the variables its going to be a very complicated graph just to get a statistical picture...and beyond all in here.
I think we can all agree though, that repeated blows to the head may not be good for you...but neither is breathing welding fumes for 45yrs, which is about how long I've been heading football's for season after season...and I've done both.
I know I'm not as mentally quick as I was ten years ago...over to you @Methuselah

I played football until I was 40. Centre-half and centre-forward. Lots of heading and all with the old, heavy football. I have always been pretty good on 'general knowledge' crosswords but now, I look at a clue and know that I know the answer but can't remember it. I do, about an hour later. I think (hope) that its just a symptom of getting old, My Dad never played much football and his memory deteriorated as he got older.

 

[degsy]

I played football until I was 40. Centre-half and centre-forward. Lots of heading and all with the old, heavy football. I have always been pretty good on 'general knowledge' crosswords but now, I look at a clue and know that I know the answer but can't remember it. I do, about an hour later. I think (hope) that its just a symptom of getting old, My Dad never played much football and his memory deteriorated as he got older.

I'm the same, I used to do the local pub quiz curcuit, few beers, win the quiz, take the money...sometimes making a rather rapid exit from jealousy losers...make a profit on the night.
I used to use the name 'fast eddy'...now I'd be known as 'hang on, give me a minute eddy'
I still get the answer...mostly.
Time catches up with us all

 

[Just me init]

Snowflakes

 

[canuckblue]

When many of these affected retired footballers actually played the game, although there was a specification on the weight of the football when dry, there was no specification on how much weight the balls could gain through water absorption. Nowadays, a wet football weighs the same as a dry football, in the past, a wet football would have been substantially heavier due to the materials used. I would imagine (though have zero evidence to back this up), that heading a football in the 50's/60's/70's "on a wet Tuesday evening in Stoke" would have had a much more detrimental affect on a player than it would today.

Jeff Astle of West Brom being a very good example.

 

[Tubey]

If footballs were still the same as the old Mitre Tactics from as recently as the early 90s, then yeah ban headers. They were basically cannonballs when wet.

But now? Nah. They're basically flyaways with a leather casing.

Also, I don't get this whole "oh we didn't know then what we do now" argument. Yes we did. We knew perfectly well getting hit in the head by something heavy over and over again caused brain damage. We just didn't care as much that it did.

The advancements in safety in general are a good thing, but life isn't risk free. For kids, if their parents don't want them heading a ball, fine, they can make that call. But for those who do, let them crack on with it. Same with rugby, American "Foot"ball etc.

 

[summerisle]

Families of former football and rugby players launch dementia charity

The family of Nobby Stiles have become ambassadors for a new charity launched by the families of former football and rugby players who have been diagnosed with dementia

www.theguardian.com

 

[BluePeadar]

First