The study also compared the risk of neurodegenerative disease among outfield players and goalkeepers. The study found that outfield players were 1.4 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases than goalies.
Friday 17 March 2023 06:57 in United Kingdom
Football players are one and a half times more likely to develop dementia than the general population, according to a new study.
Researchers in Sweden compared the health records of 6,007 elite male soccer players (510 of whom were goalkeepers) with 56,168 non-football players between 1924 and 2019.
The team, from Karolinska Institutet and other research centers, published their research in the highly regarded peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet.
It found that 9% of football players were diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseasecompared to 6 percent (3,485 of 56,168) of the control sample.
According to the study, soccer players did not have a significantly increased risk of motor neurone disease.
The researchers found that soccer players also had a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and overall mortality compared with other people.
The academics behind the study said this could be “due to playing football regularly to maintain good physical fitness”.
The study also compared the risk of neurodegenerative disease among outfield players and goalkeepers. The study found that outfield players were 1.4 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases than goalies.
Peter Ueda, assistant professor at Karolinska Institutet, said: “Unlike outfield players, goalkeepers rarely head the ball, but they may be exposed to similar environments and lifestyles during their football careers and after retirement. .
“Repetitive minor head trauma due to heading a ball has been speculated to be responsible for the increased risk in football players, and it may be that the differences in neurodegenerative disease risk between these two groups of players support this theory.”
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In recent years, there has been growing concern about head trauma in football and whether it leads to an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases later in life.
A previous Scottish study showed that soccer players were 3.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative diseases.
Based on this evidence, certain football associations have taken steps to reduce headers in younger groups and training environments.
Mr Ueda added: “While the increased risk in our study was slightly smaller than previous studies conducted in Scotland, it confirms that elite footballers are at greater risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases later in life.
“With growing calls within the movement to do more to protect brain health, our study adds to the limited evidence base that can be used to guide decisions about how to manage these risks.”
The FA is currently trialling a ban on children under 12 from heading football in grassroots leagues and matches in England.