Sydney lover football player Oliver Lee-Young remembers countless head sessions when he was a young budding player.
“My father took me to the park in the north of Sydney and we trained all the time, coaches, school programs, all this kind of thing,” said Lee-Young.
“It’s so important – you can’t really play the game without heading to the defense, for the attack, for marking goals, for almost all the facets of the sport.”
But Lee-Young said that new research revealed that any football section changes brain chemistry and electrical activity has given thought of thought.
Lee-Young said the section was an integral part of football. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp))
The book, published today in the journal Sports Medicine – Open, has found changes in the brains of players who participated in a leading study by researchers from the University of Sydney and Griffith University.
“Overall, I would say that we have found that the football course has a subtle effect on the brain, even when there is no concussion and cognitive disorders detected,” said researcher Dr Danielle McCartney, researcher at the Lambert Institute of Cannabinoid Therapeutics of the University of Sydney.
The study recruited 15 male amateur football players aged 18 to 35 to run a ball launched 20 times in 20 minutes of a machine at a fixed distance and speed.
The players then underwent MRI analyzes and gave blood samples.
The study of Dr. McCartney used a machine that projects balls at a fixed speed and distance. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp))
Dr. McCartney said the results showed that players’ brain chemistry had changed immediately after doing headers.
“We have found a modification of the electric and modified conductive chemistry in certain regions of the brain,” she said.
The changes have included an altered chemistry in a part of the brain involved in engine control and a decrease in electrical conductivity in several areas.
“We also found that two blood biomarkers, who were previously associated with a head trauma and dementia, were raised after the task of CAP,” said Dr. McCartney.
Dr. McCartney said the study had monitored changes in the brain involved in engine control. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp))
Blood samples have shown high levels of two proteins, GFAP and NFL.
High levels of these two proteins are also observed in cases of concussion and dementia, but at much higher levels than those observed in study participants.
These proteins are currently considered some of the best blood -available blood biomarkers from brain damage and a risk of future dementia.
But Dr. McCartney quickly pointed out that study players have undergone any cognitive effect.
“It tells us that they (the effects) are subtle,” she said.
“This tells us that we have to do additional work to really understand the clinical and long -term meaning of these effects.”
Dr. McCartney said more work should be done to understand the long -term impacts of the section. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp))
Dr. Nathan Delang, who led research as a doctoral student and is now a postdoctoral researcher at Queensland University, said more studies were underway to understand the models.
“High levels of these biomarkers indicate that brain cells have been disturbed at the microstructural level,” said Dr. Delang.
“The clinical and long -term significance of these small elevations is always under study, in particular with regard to quantity, and which diagram, of exposure could lead to effects on the structure and function of the brain.”
But Dr. McCartney said that determining the long -term impact of the football section was difficult because it was practically impossible to adjust the effects of sub -cretant blows – like the head of a football ball – from more serious heads.
“Often, people who experience many non-competitive impacts also have condemned impacts, and it is therefore difficult to do these observation studies,” she said.
“Our research shows that the section has acute effects on the brain.
“Admittedly, we need more studies to determine whether these effects persist or not, whether they do not accumulate over time.
“This kind of thing will help us better understand the effects of attention on long -term health.”
More studies are necessary to determine whether the effects of the section accumulate over time. (Getty Images: Robert Niedring))
Research will be added to the debate in Australia as to whether children should be allowed to lead the ball.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, young children are prohibited from heading until they are at the start of their adolescence.
Some clubs in Australia also initiated a ban, but it was not adopted across the country.
In a statement, Football Australia said that it had published updated guidelines on concussion for junior and community sport last month.
“Junior football is played on smaller fields, with a reduced number of players and small goals,” the statement said.
“The changes in the laws of the game, including no jet-ins and the requirement for goalkeepers to release the ball by driving or in a launcher, help reduce the impact of heading to a junior level.
“Football Australia has approved an expert project team to examine the suggestions of a football expert working group on strategies to reduce the impact, magnitude and burden on football membership for young people, starting with a complete literature review.”
Lee-Young said research could make players reconsider how much they run the ball. (ABC News: Geoff Kemp))
Lee-Young said the research of the University of Sydney could ensure that people consider the potential dangers of management, but he did not think that it would never be forbidden from the game.
“This is like saying that you cannot make a bouncer in the cricket-it is part of the sport. It would not really be football with your head,” he said.
“But for children, it could be another story.”
Dr. McCartney said it was necessary to be cautious.
“As a starting point, I think we have to be cautious in and around the head,” said Dr. McCartney.
“Make an effort to limit exposure, if applicable.
“Bringing intense training sessions involving many sections may not be the best plan based on our results.”
