HEADING AND DEMENTIA: ARE FOOTBALLERS PUTTING THEMSELVES AT RISK?

A new study has revealed that footballers are more likely to die of degenerative brain disease than non-players. Former pro footballers have called for a ban on heading, and the Scottish Football Association recently announced they were considering a ban for children under 12. But what does the research say?

- AMY BARRETT

Back in 1970, Jeff Astle played for England at the FIFA World Cup. In 2002, after suffering with a dementia-type brain disease for a number of years, he died at his daughter’s home, aged just 59.

Later analysis (in 2014) of Astle’s brain revealed he’d suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease often seen in boxers. The neurosurgeon who performed the examination, Dr. Willie Stewart, concluded that, much like powerful blows to boxers’ heads, Astle’s repeated heading of the ball had caused his CTE.

Now, Stewart has been part of a team that has revealed that former professional footballers are five times more likely to have a dementia-type illness, and three-and-a-half times more likely to die from it, than members of the general public.

Since the findings were published in October 2019, former players and football fans have called for a change in the rules around head injuries and heading the ball. At the time of writing, the Scottish Football Association is considering a ban on children under 12 heading the ball. But does the science support this?

Stewart’s study looked at data from over 7,000 former professional players and 23,000 controls from the general population, matched on the basis of sex, age, and socio-economic class. The findings were based on mortality rates and prescriptions of drugs for dementia symptoms. “Out of those 1,180 footballers in our study who died, 222 had died of neurodegenerative diseaserelated causes. Two hundred and twenty-eight members out of the control group [of 23,000 people] died of neurodegenerative disease,” explains Stewart.

“Considering there had been three times as many people in the control group, we expected to see three times the number of deaths.”