I was especially interested because I played both football and rugby at school and because I have a very poor memory. But I doubt if there's any link between the two. As far as I remember (!!) I've always had a poor memory. And I never had more than minor injuries when I was on the field.
In fact I loathed the two games so much I did everything I could to avoid both the ball and the other players. I never headed a football and I never made any violent rugby tackles. I was always against violence of any sort. Being a well-brought-up young man, I was more likely to tap the other player on the shoulder and ask if he would be kind enough to give me the ball for a minute or two.
If I do ever develop dementia, the cause is more likely to be bashing my head on door frames because they're not high enough for me. I remember getting quite a thwack on a door in a holiday cottage that presumably was built for much shorter occupants a century or so ago.
Otherwise I've never had head injuries of any kind - not from cycling or car accidents or from accidents at home. So hopefully I'm fairly safe from any head injury-related dementia.
How soon before fathers stop encouraging their sons to play football and warn them against it?
This isn't a new idea but people keep playing these sports
ReplyDeleteKylie: Well, playing them is okay, but the dangerous aspects should be banned. Heading balls is quite unnecessary.
DeleteCommon sense says..................
ReplyDeleteJohn: That heading balls isn't good for you. It's taken a very long time to confirm the obvious.
DeleteThankfully none in my family took to either sport nor my son. Today particularly, any sport bar perhaps golf is dangerous at the professional level as too much is involved.
ReplyDeleteRamana: Too many people see the dangers as "just part of the game", or even as something exciting. The dangers need to be taken more seriously as a long-term threat to health.
DeleteRugby Union seems to have been taken over by body builders rather than played by normal men and being tackled by one of those chaps can't be a joke.
ReplyDeleteAnd in cricket I am beginning to think that the wearing of helmets has made the game more hazardous...as players feel safein taking their eye ff the ball and taking the thwack on the nut when it hits said helmet with all the concussion risks that that entails.
I don't know if there is a link between sport and dementia, it seems to me that it might be one factor among many, but if there is a hereditary factor then I am in with a chance as father lived to be 93 and mother 102 and both had all their wits about them.
Fly: Good point about helmets probably encouraging riskier behaviour. And not offering total protection either.
DeleteMy mother lived to 96 so maybe I have a good few years ahead of me!
Boxing is another though I would never call it a "sport". I dread the ongoing situation with women and girls hockey, rugby and soccer when men are now allowed to join. The injuries will be even worse for the females.
ReplyDeleteI had one bad fall on my head, concussion. I am hoping no long term effects, though I laugh when I type that as I am old.
XO
WWW
www: Boxing is horrendous. I don't know how people can actually "enjoy" it. And as you say, it's crazy that men can now declare themselves women and join women's sports.
DeleteThere has been a movement here to stop younger children from playing American football, but I haven’t followed it. For most people, vascular dementia is of more concern.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I think any type of dementia is a concern, given its devastating effects on the person who has it. Jenny's father died of vascular dementia.
DeleteSame with my Dad.
DeleteThe only head injury I remember receiving is when the neighbor boy cut my forehead open while "teaching" me to play golf without warning me not to stand behind him.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest brother played a lot of sports but mostly tennis and softball so his injuries are knee related. Deciding to turn back to first base when your cleats are stuck in the ground is NOT a good idea.
Linda: If you were hit by the golf club, that sounds nasty. I think knee injuries are very common in a lot of sports. Jenny always maintains that exercise is dangerous!
DeleteI got banged on the head a couple of times in grammar school. It was a small yard and some of the kids played kickball, sending the ball high in the air. It really jarred the brain if it landed on you, even though you weren't playing. That wouldn't be allowed today, of course. My poor old brain has made is so far, though, so I don't worry about it. Now whenever I have to tackle technical problems instead of getting frustrated I say, "At least I'm not senile!
ReplyDeleteJean: Indeed, your brain seems to be working well despite your childhood head accidents. Strange how some brains can be firing on all cylinders at a vast age while others start to fail very early on.
DeleteI've had three concussions in my whole life. the last was from a 'pop fly' ball that I looked up and was supposed to catch in left field. I missed it. and it struck me in the middle of my forehead and knocked me unconscious. I awoke to them holding up my feet and with all their jackets thrown over me. the hospital was the answer when I couldn't come up with my address.
ReplyDeletemy forehead was black and blue and purple and mushed so big it actually parted my hair! totally gross... but probably saved my life. they said if the swelling had been inside my brain it would have been MUCH worse. I was 34. and I resigned from the company's team. because from then on I was afraid of the ball!
I often have thought my lack of memory (short term especially) is the fault of the concussions. but I expect it's more my advanced AGE! LOL.
still... it's so silly to subject children to injuries. I'm glad they're finally getting smarter.
Tammy: That last concussion you mentioned sounds pretty serious. A good job the swelling wasn't inside your brain, as you say. I'm not surprised you were afraid of the ball after that.
DeleteYes, children especially should be protected from dangerous sports. It's not enough to shrug off risks as "just part of the game".
I can only believe anyone who advocates contact sports is a brutal person. I had a serious head injury that left me in an induced coma for a month. There is still a grove and a chink in my skull, where it was sawed open. Worse yet, I lost a mass of right brain ability. Bottom line, stay away from head injury.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: A serious head injury indeed. But it's good that despite the effect on your brain you're still functioning pretty well!
DeleteI am so conflicted by the benefits of children playing contact sports. I get the advantages of team building and all. But I had a child interested in playing American football, I would try to encourage him/her into playing basketball instead.
ReplyDeleteColette: I'm sure there must be plenty of team-building exercises that don't involve the risk of serious injury! I know nothing about basketball, but it sounds a lot safer than football or rugby.
DeleteOne of my brother's knee injuries happened on a basketball court when he pivoted but his rubber soled shoe stuck in place.
DeleteLinda: So basketball's not so safe then. A most unfortunate sort of injury.
DeleteI walked into a parking metre once. Dangerous things, parking metres.
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: You're meant to put money in them, not walk into them....
DeleteI actually enjoyed Rugby at school, in fact I even played Club Rugby, after leaving. However, I soon gave-up my Club days; most of our opponents were simply violent THUGS.
ReplyDeleteCro Magnon: I imagine quite a few rugby players are basically violent types looking to bust someone's nose.
DeleteAnd it's not just dementia. My father boxed at school in the '30s. and got Parkinson's in his mid-forties. His doctor said he felt the two were connected.
ReplyDeleteS And S: Interesting. Research on the possible connection seems scanty. Of course Muhammad Ali had Parkinson's but there's no evidence that boxing was to blame. It's a known fact though that professional boxing can damage the brain.
DeleteWe were talking about that this morning. Maybe American football type helmets are the way forward. I can't see men getting smaller, training becoming less ferocious, or players less committed to tackling.
ReplyDeleteLiz: I agree. Rugby always looks like a pretty aggressive game to me, and I can't see that changing in a hurry.
DeleteIt's the way they put their heads down to run at someone terrifies me. Even more than the scrum I think.
DeleteLiz: Yes, that always looks ominous.
DeleteIt’s not surprising that you hit your head on a low door, Nick, as they always look too short in the English shows I’ve seen. As for the head injuries related to sports, no one in my family played any of those mentioned so no personal experience here.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: It's fortunate that no one in your family played those sports. If they had done, they might be a bit worried.
DeleteHaving provided communication and cognitive therapy to various types of brain injury from accident, various other medical reasons, diseases, also simply bumping the head from a fall, head injury has been high in my awareness. Possibly boxing and some of those "sports" are our culture's version of those Colosseum events we think of as barbaric today. Will future generations look back at our sports entertainment similarly?
ReplyDeleteIndividuals have different tolerance levels so what's a problem for one might not be for another -- numerous factors. As much as each of us is the same there are differences and that's true in the brain and the connections there, too, including genes we inherited, hormones. It's easier for people to understand and accept differences they can see, so brain differences are less appreciated, even causing some people to be condemned for what they can't control. The neck is very vulnerable with spinal cord there which helmets don't protect.
All that said, I grew up exposed to these sports, viewing and enjoying participating in many, though I didn't play football and soccer wasn't prominent in my youth. The thought of brain injury is very much on my mimd when I watch some sports, see people (especially older ones) on ladders, think about earthquake preparations and various disasters. Am concerned now about possible long term brain effects of Covid-19 on some who have had the infection.
Joared: We might very well look back on popular sports of 2020 and be amazed at how violent and hazardous they were.
DeleteVery true that people with invisible internal injuries are often unjustly criticised and insulted. People are too quick to condemn others, period.
Yes, I've read that people who've had Covid can develop various neurological problems that may be long-lasting and can't always be reversed.