Playing professional football can give you dementia, but so can alcohol abuse

There is an old English saying that football takes as much as it gives. Hanging your boots after a long, successful career does not guarantee a healthy life. After a 22-month long research by the University of Glasgow, the long-suspected link between the sport and brain damage has been confirmed. This landmark study proves that there is a three-and-a-half times more risk of developing dementia in former professional footballers as compared to regular people.

Dementia is a syndrome where there is decline in memory, problem-solving ability, language understanding and other cognitive skills. It can affect a person’s ability to perform daily activities. It all depends on the area of the brain where the disease manifests. Common symptoms of dementia that you should look out for include memory loss, difficulty communicating or finding words, difficulty in performing simple tasks, visual abilities like driving, problem-solving. Other symptoms are difficulty handling complex tasks, problems reasoning, difficulty in planning, trouble with co-ordination, lots of confusion and disorientation.

Along with dementia, the study also suggests that there is a five-times more risk of Alzheimer’s, four-times more chances of developing motor neurone diseases and twice the risk of Parkinson’s in these retired footballers. The study was not clear about the reason for this. Experts believe that repeated concussions and heading hard leather footballs could be the reason. The Football Association has stated that they would set up a task force, which could solely work on finding the potential causes.

RISK FACTORS FOR DEMENTIA

There are several factors can lead to the development of dementia. There are some genetic factors. This cannot be changed, other factors like smoking can be. Here are some of the risk factors that increase the risk of dementia

Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis refers to the condition where there is thickening and hardening of the artery walls in the heart. It happens due to plaque build-up. Plaque is a mixture of cholesterol, fat, calcium, and other substances in the blood. It interferes with the flow of blood to your brain, which impairs the brain’s ability to function properly. A study in the JAMA Neurology journal says smoking increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis and other types of vascular disease.

Homocysteine

Homocysteine is a type of amino acid, which circulates in the blood and helps in building protein in the body. According to a recent study by the National Institute of Health (NIH), USA, presence of high levels of homocysteine in the body may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, cognitive impairment and stroke.

Alcohol abuse

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) is a type of dementia. It is often the result of a lack of vitamin B-1, or thiamine. Chronic alcoholics have a higher risk of vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency. Signs and symptoms of WKS include difficulty learning new information and short-term and long-term memory loss.

Published : October 23, 2019 4:14 pm | Updated:October 23, 2019 4:17 pm

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Playing professional football can give you dementia, but so can alcohol abuse

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Playing professional football can give you dementia, but so can alcohol abuse

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