'Is there a time bomb ticking in my head?' one goalie asked such question related to the risk of suffering from dementia. For a long time that repeated blows to the head, such as those suffered by boxers, can make people more susceptible to degenerative neurological conditions such as dementia. What we're now seeing is clear evidence that heading footballs can also significantly increase those risk factors.
For goalkeepers the neurodegenerative disease risk was similar to general population levels. In contrast, the risk for outfield players was almost four times higher than expected and varied by player position with risk highest among defenders, at around five-fold higher than expected. Neurodegenerative disease diagnoses increased with increasing career length, ranging from an approximate doubling of risk in those with shortest careers to around a five-fold increase in those with the longest careers.
Former professional footballers had an approximately three-and-a-half-fold higher rate of death due to neurodegenerative disease than expected.
English football is also driving reform on this point. In February 2020, the FA — with the Scottish and Northern Irish associations — issued new guidelines that children up to age 11 should no longer be coached in heading and that headers should be a "low priority" for under-18 teams. Last July, the FA, Premier League and lower league associations also advised adult teams to cut back on the intensity of header training: "It is recommended that no more than 10 higher-force headers are performed in any training week." This refers to headers after long passes, crosses, corners or freekicks.
In 2022 a new dementia study has been launched to investigate ways to reduce risk of the disease in former footballers. The study will be led by Dr Willie Stewart, whose previous research showed ex-professionals are three and a half times more likely to die of dementia than the general population. The new four-year, £1.3m BrainHOPE study will build on that research.
References
https://www.dw.com/en/the-risk-of-dementia-in-football-a-ticking-time-bomb/a-60172421
https://www.headway.org.uk/news-and-campaigns/news/2021/study-reinforces-link-between-dementia-in-professional-footballers-and-heading-the-ball/
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/61220186
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