Link between football and brain disease finally established
Researchers say change needed to combat issue FA vows to look for ways to reduce head injuries
Former professional footballers are 3½ times more likely to die from dementia and other serious neurological diseases, according to landmark research funded by the Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association.
The 22-month study by the Glasgow Brain Injury Research Group followed The Daily Telegraph’s successful campaign for research into the prevalence of dementia among former players, and yesterday confirmed the fears of families who have long suspected a link between brain injury and football.
The analysis found there was a five-fold increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s, a four-fold increase in Motor Neurone Disease and a twofold increase in Parkinson’s. No differences were found between goalkeepers and outfield players.
More positively, the research did confirm how playing football and being active reduced risks of other serious conditions, such as heart disease and certain types of cancer.
This meant former professional footballers lived on average three years longer than a matched group from the general population.
“I think we can say now that head injuries and head impacts would be top of the list for research pursuit and top of the list for a change in football,” said Dr Willie Stewart, the honorary clinical associate professor at the University of Glasgow, who led the largest-ever study into the incidence of neurodegenerative disease in any sport.
The family of Jeff Astle, who died in 2002 of what a coroner ruled was “industrial disease” from playing football, now want urgent action. Supported by other families and medical experts, they demanded:
Care funds and practical help immediately available for hundreds of families of suffering players.
A government inquiry into why past warnings about football and dementia were not acted upon more swiftly.
Concussion protocols to bring football in line with other sports and allow temporary substitutes.
A review of how else football could be made safer, both in training and matches.
“I am staggered even though my own research and instinct was always that there was a serious problem,” said Dawn Astle, Jeff ’s daughter, who has campaigned for answers and now been invited on to an Fa-led task force to advise on future research.
“The government should step in. should be a full inquiry into what people knew. We know there have been warnings ignored. We knew Dad could not be the only one. We just wanted to see that football cared enough to find out the scale of the problem, to do the right thing and be there for these people when they need them most. These players must not be a statistic – they must never be forgotten. They remain in the consciousness.”
Chris Bryant, chairman of the allparty parliamentary committee into acquired brain injury, has backed the Astles’ call for government action. “We have a new secretary of state for culture, media and sport,” Bryant said. “One of the first things they should do is set up a task force that will look at why some sports
have dragged their feet, the missed warnings, and look at introducing shared protocols for all sports.
“It’s been relatively easy for our committee to get rugby, boxing and ice hockey to engage but almost impossible with football.”
The Telegraph has previously revealed that the FA and PFA were warned about a potential link between football and dementia in the 1990s. Both said yesterday that records to support research which has been published by The New England Journal of Medicine were only recently available.
The new research used databases of 7,676 pre- and post-war Scottish league footballers aged 40 or over on Dec 31 2016, and so born between 1900 and 1976. Stewart’s investigators then studied their medical and death certification records and matched them against three people from the general population according to age, sex and demographic who had not played professional football.
Mark Bullingham, the FA chief executive, promised his organisation was now committed to further research that might identify the specific causes of dementia among former footballers.
The FA will also push the International Football Association Board to explore the introduction of concussion substitutes, but says there is insufficient evidence to change any aspect of football, such as limiting heading in children’s football. Bullingham said aerial challenges had already been reduced significantly in youth football following moves to smaller pitches.
The FA also admitted that its advisory group was fearful that people would start to feel football was “not good for you” and has underlined the wider health benefits.
Ifab is due to meet this week to discuss the introduction of concussion substitutes and Bobby Barnes, the PFA deputy chief executive, wants independent doctors to now make final decisions over whether players can stay on the pitch following suspected concussions.
Barnes also said that he was among five PFA staff members who had pledged to donate their brains when they die to help further research into dementia.