Soccer Defenders Have 5 Times Higher Risk of Dementia... "Heading Should Be Banned Due to Risk of Incurable Disease"

Goalkeepers Are Similar to Ordinary People, While Other Position Players Are Three Times More Active

[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Jinsoo Lee] Health warnings similar to those on cigarette packaging may need to be displayed on soccer ball packaging as well.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow in the UK revealed in the August 2 online edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Neurology that soccer players who head the ball have a risk of developing dementia later that is as much as five times higher.

Experts have long argued that heading the ball repeatedly over the years can lead to incurable diseases later, and therefore heading should be banned.

According to Professor Willie Stewart, a neuropathologist at the University of Glasgow and one of the authors of the study, signs of brain damage were found in three-quarters of former professional soccer players. Professor Stewart said, "It may be time to consider placing health warnings on soccer ball packaging as well," adding, "Continuously warning that frequent heading can lead to dementia could attract people's attention." He questioned the necessity of heading in soccer when players could suffer from dementia 30 or 40 years later.

The research team surveyed 8,000 former professional soccer players in Scotland. The results showed that defenders had a risk of suffering from degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, that was five times higher than that of the general population.

The highest probability of dementia was found among players who had played soccer for more than 15 years. Players with shorter careers or those who played in positions other than defense showed relatively lower rates. Except for goalkeepers, all players had at least three times the average risk of developing dementia. Goalkeepers had a risk similar to that of the general population.

Repeated minor impacts to the head may not cause immediate concussion symptoms but can continuously damage brain nerves, leading to serious problems decades later. This phenomenon has already been confirmed in boxers and American football players.

In England, guidelines are being established to limit the number of headers during training for professional soccer players to a maximum of 10 per week. Heading training for players under 11 years old has already been banned.