Research shows that professional footballers face a significantly higher risk of developing dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases due to repeated head impacts, reports BBC.
Medical evidence links frequent heading in football and collisions in contact sports to long-term brain damage, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE, once known as “dementia pugilistica” in boxers, has now been identified in athletes across multiple sports.
The risks have been known for nearly a century. In 1928, US pathologist Harrison Martland described “punch-drunk” syndrome among boxers. Decades later, similar damage was found in football and American football players. Former England striker Jeff Astle died in 2002 with early-onset dementia, while US NFL star Mike Webster died at 50 after cognitive decline. Both were later diagnosed with CTE.
Studies show the scale of the problem. In 2023, researchers at Boston University examined the brains of 376 former NFL players and found that 91.7% had CTE. Although this group may not represent all players, the prevalence of CTE in the general population is estimated to be under 1%.
In football, a large Scottish study of nearly 8,000 former professionals found they were five times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, four times more likely to suffer from motor neurone disease and twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s than the general population.
Overall, their risk of dying from neurodegenerative disease was 3.5 times higher. Defenders faced the highest risk, while goalkeepers had no increased risk. Longer playing careers also meant greater danger.
Scientists say repeated low-level impacts, such as heading the ball, damage the brain’s white matter by stretching delicate nerve fibres (axons). MRI scans have shown early brain changes in frequent headers, particularly in the orbitofrontal cortex. Damage is greatest where white and grey matter meet, due to shear forces during impact.
While not everyone exposed develops disease, repeated head trauma may trigger chronic inflammation, blood vessel damage or progressive nerve cell loss over time.
Experts say prevention is key. Measures include reducing heading in training, banning heading at youth level, improving protective equipment such as shock-absorbing helmets, and limiting unnecessary head impacts.
“If we reduced repeated blows to the head, the risk would fall dramatically,” researchers say—though convincing athletes to change long-standing habits remains a challenge.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
