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Sports and dementia
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:04 pm
by El Pollo Diablo
LPM has for some time now been trumpeting the dangers that football may carry with respect to heading the ball being a potentially high risk factor for developing early dementia. I admit I was relatively sceptical of that position. Until now.
In a similar situation, though possibly worse in consequence, eight former rugby union players, including Steve Thompson, the 42-year old England world cup winner,
have declared that they have early-onset dementia. All are below the age of 45. Thompson cannot remember winning the world cup.
All the players have received the same diagnosis – dementia with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), for which the only known cause is repeated blows to the head. CTE can be diagnosed for certain only by a post-mortem dissection of the brain.
They want to bring legal proceedings against World Rugby, and the RFUs in England and Wales regarding failure to protect from the damaging impact of concussion and repeated head trauma. If successful, it's hard to imagine the
similar situation in football not leading to similar legal action which in turn should be successful. That would have huge impacts on how football and rugby are played, from school level all the way up to professional.
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:16 pm
by TAFKAsoveda
https://www.englandrugby.com/participat ... g/headcase
Link to the RFU’s info pages on how they deal with concussion. In my experience the youth clubs are very hot on concussion and stopping people playing.
It remains to see if it has an impact.
(No pun intended)
ETA: Link for pdf of the back to play guidance -
https://www.englandrugby.com//dxdam/7d/ ... elines.pdf
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:24 pm
by jimbob
El Pollo Diablo wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 3:04 pm
LPM has for some time now been trumpeting the dangers that football may carry with respect to heading the ball being a potentially high risk factor for developing early dementia. I admit I was relatively sceptical of that position. Until now.
In a similar situation, though possibly worse in consequence, eight former rugby union players, including Steve Thompson, the 42-year old England world cup winner,
have declared that they have early-onset dementia. All are below the age of 45. Thompson cannot remember winning the world cup.
All the players have received the same diagnosis – dementia with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), for which the only known cause is repeated blows to the head. CTE can be diagnosed for certain only by a post-mortem dissection of the brain.
They want to bring legal proceedings against World Rugby, and the RFUs in England and Wales regarding failure to protect from the damaging impact of concussion and repeated head trauma. If successful, it's hard to imagine the
similar situation in football not leading to similar legal action which in turn should be successful. That would have huge impacts on how football and rugby are played, from school level all the way up to professional.
Yes it's been known for some time, from American football, and Rugby Union in New Zealand as well.
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2020 8:03 pm
by Tessa K
A pretty good working definition of rugby is 'repeated blows to the head between two goals'.
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:47 am
by secret squirrel
My mum tells me* that in a school rugby game as an early teenager I was knocked out on the field and had to be revived with a bucket of water. After a quick check of the 'how many fingers am I holding up?' variety I was back in the game. And this was in the late 90s, which shows how much awareness of these issues has improved in recent years.
Anyway, on the subject of concussions, young Australian cricketer
Will Pucovski keeps getting them. 9 already at 22. Very difficult questions to be answered by cricket Australia, and of course the man himself who seems otherwise set for a very good career in the game.
* I do not remember this incident.
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 9:28 pm
by Woodchopper
Groundbreaking research into the long-term ramifications of concussion in sport has found chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the brains of more than half of a cohort of donors, including three under the age of 35.
The Australian Sports Brain Bank on Monday reported its preliminary findings after examining the 21 brains posthumously donated by sportspeople since the centre’s inception in 2018.
Of those – all of whom had played sports with risks of repetitive head injury, including 17 in football codes – 12 donors were found to have CTE lesions, while all but one exhibited some form of neurodegeneration.
CTE, which can only be definitively diagnosed at autopsy, is a neurodegenerative condition linked to repeated head traumas. Symptoms experienced during life include cognitive impairment, impulsive behaviour, depression, suicidal thoughts, short-term memory loss and emotional instability.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... SApp_Other
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:00 pm
by Herainestold
Woodchopper wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 9:28 pm
Groundbreaking research into the long-term ramifications of concussion in sport has found chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the brains of more than half of a cohort of donors, including three under the age of 35.
The Australian Sports Brain Bank on Monday reported its preliminary findings after examining the 21 brains posthumously donated by sportspeople since the centre’s inception in 2018.
Of those – all of whom had played sports with risks of repetitive head injury, including 17 in football codes – 12 donors were found to have CTE lesions, while all but one exhibited some form of neurodegeneration.
CTE, which can only be definitively diagnosed at autopsy, is a neurodegenerative condition linked to repeated head traumas. Symptoms experienced during life include cognitive impairment, impulsive behaviour, depression, suicidal thoughts, short-term memory loss and emotional instability.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... SApp_Other
In the future it may be difficult to disentangle these effects from those of Long Covid, which is known to affect the brain.
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:05 pm
by WFJ
Herainestold wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:00 pm
In the future it may be difficult to disentangle these effects from those of Long Covid, which is known to affect the brain.
This has to be trolling now. If not, please for your own sake stop reading news about covid.
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:41 pm
by Gfamily
Herainestold wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:00 pm
In the future it may be difficult to disentangle these effects from those of Long Covid, which is known to affect the brain.
Seriously - either stop worrying, or just shut the f.ck up.
Or ask yourself, if you had an undiagnosed Covid case, might you think you might be affected by it??
Re: Sports and dementia
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 6:54 am
by bob sterman
Herainestold wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 10:00 pm
In the future it may be difficult to disentangle these effects from those of Long Covid, which is known to affect the brain.
On one of the COVID threads I made a satirical post about how you might think the COVID pandemic itself was caused by Long COVID.
But it seems you're doing a good enough job of parodying yourself!