Football Headers "Linked to Brain Damage"

Repeated headers during a footballer's professional career may be linked to long-term brain damage, according to new research.

The research follows anecdotal reports that players who head balls may be more prone to developing dementia in later life.

Dawn Astle, the daughter of former England and West Brom striker Jeff Astle, who died suffering from early onset dementia at the age of 59, said it was "obvious that it [his dementia] was linked to his footballing career."

The inquest into his death in 2002 found that repeatedly heading heavy leather footballs had contributed to trauma to his brain.

Researchers examined the brains of five people who had been professional footballers, and one who had been an enthusiastic amateur. All developed dementia in their 60s. Professor Huw Morris said:

"When we examined their brains at autopsy we saw the sorts of changes that are seen in ex-boxers, the changes that are often associated with repeated brain injury which are known as CTE.

"So really for the first time in a series of players we have shown that there is evidence that head injury has occurred earlier in their life which presumably has some impact on them developing dementia."

Experts said recreational players were unlikely to incur problems.

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