'Heading' footballs can cause brain injury

The game of football could be forever transformed by the findings of a new study.

Scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, told an audience at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) that 'heading' a ball can lead to brain injury.

The team found that players who frequently head the ball have brain abnormalities similar to those seen in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients.

Dr Michael L Lipton, associate director of the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and medical director of MRI services at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, explained that the impact of the football on the brain is not enough to cause damage on its own.

"But repetitive heading could set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells," he expanded.

The analysis revealed that the threshold for damage caused by heading stands at between 1,000 and 1,500 heads per year.

Posted by Neil Clark