(Soccer) headers 'linked to brain damage'

[nitpicker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38971750

Football headers 'linked to brain damage'

By Smitha Mundasad
Health reporter , BBC News

1 hour ago

From the section Health

Repeated headers during a footballer's professional career may be linked to long-term brain damage, according to tentative evidence from UK scientists. The research, the first of its kind, follows anecdotal reports that players who head balls may be more prone to developing dementia later in life. The Football Association says it will look at this area more closely. Experts said recreational players were unlikely to incur problems.

The daughter of former England and West Brom striker Jeff Astle, who died aged 59 suffering from early onset dementia, said it was "obvious that it [his dementia] was linked to his footballing career". Dawn Astle said he went from being "fit as a fiddle to just a shell", adding: "He was surrounded by England caps, FA Cup winners' medals, everything he'd won in football - he remembered none of it."

Researchers from University College London and Cardiff University examined the brains of five people who had been professional footballers and one who had been a committed amateur throughout his life. They had played football for an average of 26 years and all six went on to develop dementia in their 60s. While performing post mortem examinations, scientists found signs of brain injury - called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in four cases.
(snip)

The Football Association welcomed the study and said research was particularly needed to find out whether degenerative brain disease is more common in ex-footballers.
(snip)

[safeinOhio]

1. As a younger man, I played the other football and

did a little boxing. I'm sure I now have dain bramage.

[Mosby]

2. There used to be a DUer DainBramaged

He was quite a character.

[safeinOhio]

3. Came from an old

Dice Clay routine.