Was Football Safer Back in the Day?

"That was a special period," he stated, referring to the time interval his workforce studied.

Highschool gamers have gotten greater and sooner, Savica stated, and there could also be extra "drive to win in any respect prices" nowadays in contrast with a long time in the past.

And whereas there have been advances in protecting gear, he added, which may give some gamers a "false sense of safety" that causes them to be extra aggressive, he stated.

"You may nonetheless get a concussion whenever you're sporting a helmet," Savica stated.

Podell agreed that the research findings cannot be extrapolated to youthful generations of highschool gamers.

However he additionally pointed to some issues which have modified for the higher -- notably within the final decade or so.

Consciousness of concussion and its shorter-term risks has risen, and administration of the situation has modified tremendously for the reason that period lined within the new research, Podell stated.

U.S. states, for instance, now have "return to play" legal guidelines that usually require gamers to be instantly faraway from the sport if a concussion is suspected. And tips say that athletes shouldn't return to play till they've a physician's approval.

Again within the period that Savica's workforce studied, blows to the pinnacle have been usually dismissed as "getting your bell rung."

"Possibly the coach would say, 'What number of fingers am I holding up?' And in the event you stated 'two,' you'd return within the recreation," Savica stated.

The findings, printed on-line Dec. 12 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, are based mostly on medical data of 296 males who'd performed soccer at one in all two Minnesota excessive colleges, and 190 who'd been concerned in swimming, basketball and wrestling. All athletes performed from 1956 to 1970.

Over time, the researchers discovered, seven former soccer gamers had been identified with dementia or gentle cognitive impairment. That in contrast with 5 males who'd performed different sports activities -- with no distinction within the two teams' total charges.

Equally, three males in every group had been identified with Parkinson's illness, whereas nobody had an ALS prognosis.

Some huge questions stay, Podell stated. One is that this: Are there sure folks at better threat of lasting injury from sports-related concussions or repeated knocks to the pinnacle?