Shearer

[sherwoodmag]

His programme investigating brain damage caused by heading a ball is on TV Sunday night.
Looks worth a watch.

[sherwoodmag]

His programme investigating brain damage caused by heading a ball is on TV Sunday night.
Looks worth a watch.

10-30 pm BBC One.

[Jammy89]

Yeh i thought that.

He was being interviewed about it on 5Live a couple of days ago.

Was saying that gambling, drink problems, drug dependence has all moved on in 30 years yet the issues with dementia from heading the board hasn't.

[toonlegend]

it was very interesting

it will also be interesting to see what happens in the future.

scans showed Shearers brain to be normal at the moment, however should he develop dementia in the future it would still be unproven whether football/heading the ball in particular had/hadn't played some part in the dementia developing.

I'm sure people/authorities would say not - but they wouldn't really be able to prove it would they. there could be changes in the brain/body that are not yet detectable - not known to be linked at this point in time.

i wouldn't have wanted to be waiting for results to see whether i had some brain damage or not !

[ghostrider]

It was an interesting watch.
However, my take on football and dementia through the heading of it, especially in practice is a case of nature of the beast that is the game of football.
I don't say that to make light of dementia or that football is any root cause. I just mean that I know many people and I'm sure many of you lot do, that have dementia or similar type brain malfunction who've never played football or any sports in terms of any regular basis.

If we look around this country alone and see dementia sufferers in all the forms it takes, I'm sure we could categorise many things and come to a sort of fairly even cut of the pie in terms of people in professions getting it or people in general, as well as sports, including football.
I think diet has a lot to answer for more so than simply heading footballs or the odd clash of heads.

Don't get me wrong mind. I'm all for the ongoing funding to delve deeper into it and in terms of the money in the professional game, it can be used in proportion to actually aid professional sports people like footballers in getting the help they need but let's not even contemplate banning the heading of a football that's been around for hundreds of years and over a hundred in a professional capacity.

We could go down a cotton wool wrapped road with all of this stuff.

[SmedDUm]

I thought he got palmed off at St. George's by the chief medical officer & at the P.F.A. by Taylor who I think must have headed a few balls in his time. But being a rookie investigative journalist (& having a millionaire media career) he maybe didn't want to say.

[ghostrider]

I thought he got palmed off at St. George's by the chief medical officer & at the P.F.A. by Taylor who I think must have headed a few balls in his time. But being a rookie investigative journalist (& having a millionaire media career) he maybe didn't want to say.

I don't necessarily think he was palmed off as such. I think it was more or less a reluctance to admit to anything or at least to border on giving what could be construed as affirmative answers that can create a liability stance, when there's no real evidence to tie dementia to one specific thing.

[SmedDUm]

I don't necessarily think he was palmed off as such. I think it was more or less a reluctance to admit to anything or at least to border on giving what could be construed as affirmative answers that can create a liability stance, when there's no real evidence to tie dementia to one specific thing.

OK but who's to fund the research? If the FA etc want to come out of this clean then they should have been trying to dispel the allegations 15 years ago. That they've 'wasted' 15 years suggests that there is something to hide. Maybe there's not but they've plenty money to find out.

[ghostrider]

OK but who's to fund the research? If the FA etc want to come out of this clean then they should have been trying to dispel the allegations 15 years ago. That they've 'wasted' 15 years suggests that there is something to hide. Maybe there's not but they've plenty money to find out.

Let's look at it all from a neutral standpoint.
Getting on a plane for business or leisure carries many risks.
The obvious one is crashing but the others are health wise with radiation or thrombosis,etc, due to altitude and could easily affect brain function.

Mobile phones and masts, plus computers and such with constant use have to top any agenda.

Boxing, football, rugby or any sport that causes regular head trauma is obviously another section.

I could go on and on about work and leisure in many forms affecting the brain, or potentially affecting it in later life along with natural wear and tear but it's not something that research for the effects can be pinned to a specific activity, which means footballing authorities should be part of a myriad of companies to fund research, but also not go too gung-ho in terms of getting to a point of pinning a blame where a blame is not necessary, yet still doesn't stop there being a pot set aside for funding treatment of those in any walks of life...by right but as a treatment and a potential financial ease rather than putting a stop to all leisure for fear of it.

I don't want to sound like I'm not going with feelings but there's people out there with dementia who've never used their heads for sport but may have done many other things like sky diving or mountain climbing or regular travelling by plane train and car, etc.
Eating certain foods like fish (brain food) or drinking certain wines or spirits or lagers or beers or smoking cigarettes or cigars or even a pipe.

Living near power lines or near industrial sites as a child or all their lives.

The variations are immense as to what can cause dementia or alzheimer's and all other variations of brain malfunction.
So what I'm saying is, don't pin this to any one thing and ruin something that's been a sporting leisure, because to ban heading a football you must also ban anything involving the head in any sport which means boxing and any other sport like rugby scrums and tackling for fear of it.

Let's look after dementia sufferers with every care possible, regardless.
Let's also do research as a matter of interest into all possible causes of it and then in the meantime, let's stick a warning sign onto any sport/leisure/work activity that involves the potential contacts of heads.

From this point on anyone wanting to enter a sport that uses the head in a traumatic way, should be made to sit through an induction every year for however long it takes to ensure they know the potential dangers of the now and the later.
This gives everyone a choice to not only back out, it gives them a yearly choice to evaluate what to do.


As for kids. Simply let them get on with football until they're 16 in the same way they have.
At 16 they start induction courses each year and that goes for any other person who takes up another particular sport.

This isn't about passing a liability buck, it's about giving people a choice to carry on or not, just like it would be for a runner deciding that in later life they could become crippled with joint pain and arthritis. And so on.

[SmedDUm]

The FA should maybe get you onboard to lead their research!

Cos you're right of course, had the FA etc got on the case post-Astle they could have dispelled any direct connection by now. Maybe that's what should happen next, prove that there is none.

It's certainly topical, we have an ex-Scotland rugby union internationalist up here, John Beattie, & he's rattling cages on head knock issues in his sport as well as in football. There are regular features on it as he's a (very good) radio presenter. Alan Shearer picking up the cudgel will give it greater profile still so expect more progress one way or another. He did an hour-long TV documentary earlier this year which mirrored last night's programme, same venues and all.

Was a correlation to be proved I shudder to think what a solution might be. The USA banning headers in soccer (sorry) for the U/10s seems bizarre when you consider the dangers in their American football.

Boxing I'm afraid appears to have thrown the towel in altogether, pros without headguards in the ring still.