BBC: Heading soccer balls "affects memory"
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Anonymous
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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-37714830
Disturbing news for those of us who have children playing lots of soccer. Some excerpts: Heading a football can significantly affect a player's brain function and memory for 24 hours, a study has found. Researchers said they had identified "small but significant changes in brain function" after players headed the ball 20 times. Memory performance was reduced by between 41% and 67% following the routine heading practice, with the effects wearing off after 24 hours. The University of Stirling study was published in EBioMedicine. It is the first to detect direct changes in the brain after players were exposed to everyday head impacts, as opposed to clinical brain injuries like concussion..... It's the unexpected nature of the test results that make them so devastating for football. None of the academics themselves thought that the mere act of heading a normal football a number of times, at a normal speed, as if in a normal situation, would give rise to an immediate reduction in brain function, and the onset memory loss, in the brains of two thirds of the participants tested. Disturbingly the symptoms took 24 hours to clear. The question that popped into my head was: what if someone does this every day? Do they live a life in a permanently sub concussive state? How does this affect them in older life? What about youngsters whose brains are more prone to damage? |
Anonymous
| even 40 yrs ago (1960s) when i was a little boy, our family physician who himself played soccer regularly told us that NEVER EVER use the head for soccer. his himself, as adult player never do "head ball". this was 1960s when the concept of CTS and Concussion was not known to the medical science. |
Anonymous
| Heading the ball is banned in our league (at least up through my oldest sons age, he is 9). |
Anonymous
Same here but your kid won't be 9 forever, and I guarantee you'll be as concerned about his brain when he's 13 as you are when he's 9. Our club banned heading the ball just this year for U11/2006 and under, but sadly, nothing magical happens the day your kid turns 12 that protects his/her head from so-called sub-concussive injury from repeatedly heading the ball. If you watch a decent quality high school or upper-age-brackets travel game, you'll see the ball in the air all the time, with players taking it on the head repeatedly during the game. Sure, it's not Barca or Premiere League soccer--that's an issue for another day--but it's how teenagers are apparently being taught to play in the US, and it's increasingly proving to be dangerous. Will US Soccer as a whole take a stand on this? |
Anonymous
| I can see why people say the only way U.S. will ever win the world cup is to recruit players from other countries. Smh |
Anonymous
Wait, WHAT???? I'm aware of that. I apologize if I didn't word my reply properly. I simply meant that I was glad that the league was acting in line with current findings to protect my three kids who play (9-6) by imposing the ban. I don't, however, know how high the ban goes as my oldest is only 9. I agree with you, that I will be as concerned about all of my children brains at every age. Thanks. |
Anonymous
Your club did not ban heading, US Soccer did at U12 and younger across the board. "nothing magical happens the day your kid turns 12 that protects his/her head[/b] from so-called sub-concussive injury from repeatedly heading the ball. If you watch a decent quality high school or upper-age-brackets travel game, you'll see the ball in the air all the time" There is a little bit of magic that happens at 13, kids grow and get stronger. The concussions at younger ages are due primarily to weaker neck, shoulder and back muscles causing a whiplash effect that is the cause of most concussions related to heading at younger ages. To compare high school soccer to U11 is ludicrous. |
Anonymous
??? They already have. |
Anonymous
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And yet, people are concerned about other sports where helmets are worn.
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Anonymous
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US Soccer "took a stand" for kids who are in elementary school and ignored the impact of heading in kids who are in middle school or high school. This study was done with adults.
From the BBC article: "Using a drill most amateur and professional teams would be familiar with, we found there was in fact increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly," she said. "Although the changes were temporary, we believe they are significant to brain health, particularly if they happen over and over again as they do in football heading. "With large numbers of people around the world participating in this sport, it is important that they are aware of what is happening inside the brain and the lasting effect this may have." One of the study's authors suggested football should be avoided ahead of important events like exams." For the excitable soccer dad/mom above, shaking his head about the US needing to recruit players from other countries, YOUR CHILD IS NOT GOING TO BE A PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYER. You might want to allow him to be kind to his brain so that he can find another type of job when he grows up. |
Anonymous
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I am in Europe (an American) and the FIFA coaches here are highly confused by the American kid no-heading policy.
They want to know what we do on corner kicks or how if we don't allow it until 12/13 how a kid would ever grow to be an expert soccer player. The timing, the technique, etc. I just laughed. I told him we are so far behind the rest of the Workd and US soccer just throws up even more obstacles. I know a lot of former professional soccer players--none have had the issues that boxers or American football players experience. It won't be long before our US youth soccer teams will be wearing helmets... |
Anonymous
| I can honestly admit that I don't give a shit about World Cup soccer or the place that the US holds amongst other countries. My kids aren't going to play World Cup soccer. I do care about my children's brains. Old fashioned like that. |
Anonymous
They can play FIFA soccer on Xbox then. Though watch out for carpal tunnel disease and eye strain... |
Anonymous
Uh, no. They play 5 sports a year and have daily neighborhood play (mostly street hockey). You do know what percentage of us soccer players actually grow up to play eorld cup soccer, right? Just because I'm smart enough to recognize that doesn't mean that my kids are fat slobs. |
Anonymous
Not ones playing 5 different sports a year... |