2y ago

Playing football may increase risk of Parkinson’s disease, study suggests

www.cnn.com

Playing football may increase risk of Parkinson’s disease, study suggests | CNN

Using data from a large online survey sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, researchers found that participants who had a history of playing organized tackle football were 61% more likely to report a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis or parkinsonism, an umbrella term for symptoms like tremors and rigidity that cause movement problems, compared with those who played other organized sports.

14 comments

My daughter's middle school has a football team. Full contact tackle football, not flag football or whatever. 12-year-olds going down the road to CTE and Parkinson's. It's nuts. They don't have a boxing team, nor would they.
If you're an adult and you want to take the risks that come with playing football, go for it. That's your choice.
We shouldn't be risking kids.
There's some genetic aspect but it doesn't seem to run in families like a real genetic disease, so it's probably a result of damage (physical trauma and/or toxins) and the genetic component is just a predisposition.
It's the helmets!
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar/a1914911/racing-innovator-bill-simpson-tackles-football-concussions-new-helmet/
- It's not the helmets, it's the hits to the head and the tackles to the ground. Those sudden jolts are what cause concussions.
  
  Do rugby players suffer concussions as frequently as American football players? If they don’t, could the helmets be making the problem worse - encouraging players to hit with their heads more, like a false sense of security? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I don’t know anything about American football and not much more about rugby!
  EDIT: it seems like rugby players are more prone to concussions than NFL players, but I might not be completely off the mark about helmets offering a false sense of protection:
  “Rugby players are believed to play more aggressively when using scrum caps; however, studies have shown these make no difference for protecting against head injuries.”
  
  Which a better helmet design protects from...if you read the article.

14 comments