Footy, head injuries and dementia
As the football season kicked off recently, a new discussion paper released by Alzheimer’s Australia NSW, has called for all Australian football codes to strictly enforce concussion guidelines to minimise the risk of brain injury and cognitive impairment.
As the football season kicked off recently, a new discussion paper released by Alzheimer’s Australia NSW, has called for all Australian football codes to strictly enforce concussion guidelines to minimise the risk of brain injury and cognitive impairment.
These are among a raft of recommendations contained in Football, Head Injuries and the Risk of Dementia, the latest discussion paper prepared by Alzheimer’s Australia NSW. The paper also calls on Australian football codes to contribute to further research about dementia in retired football players in Australia.
Alzheimer’s Australia NSW chief executive, John Watkins, said a growing body of research and anecdotal evidence linking concussions and other head injuries sustained in football to the development of later life cognitive impairment was a cause for concern.
“The codes have a responsibility to their players to undertake much more research in this area, particularly with retired football players, to see if there is evidence of post career cognitive impairment, and even the development of dementia, as a result of multiple concussions sustained during their careers,” Mr Watkins said.
“There is a great tradition of football in Australia which makes up part of our unique social fabric.
“And we by no means wish to curtail this. But we do believe players must be aware of the potential risks of later-life cognitive impairment and dementia for footballers who suffer multiple concussive injuries in their playing career.
“Steps must be taken to protect these players from the potentially devastating consequences.
“Anyone with a concussion must take the appropriate time off before returning to the field. And a review of the rules for all four codes must be undertaken to ensure any risk of concussion or traumatic brain injury is minimised.”
Mr Watkins praised the efforts of the codes which have developed stricter concussion management guidelines and rule changes in recent years, but said more needed to be done.
“It is heartening to see all four codes talking more about these important issues and being more proactive in addressing ways to minimise the risk to players.
“But we cannot ignore the emerging evidence from the United States and the anecdotal evidence in Australia from retired football players.”
Clinical neuropsychologist Dr Andrew Gardner, said while caution was needed when looking at emerging evidence from the USA in relation to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in former Gridiron players, players in Australia did need to be aware about the potential risks of repeated head trauma.
“We can’t ignore the current data and pretend we are immune here in Australia, but we need to conduct sound research of our own before we can draw conclusions,” said Dr Gardner, who contributed to the discussion paper.
“While the increased media focus on sportsrelated concussion and the potential longterm consequences of these injuries for retired athletes is certainly welcome, the community and particularly athletes and parents of younger athletes need to be educated with well balanced information.
“The governing bodies of all of our popular football codes are certainly doing a commendable job in assisting many different groups of researchers study sports related concussion in their athletes but this ongoing support is required if we are to make further progress in our understanding.”
