It is not unknown that the sport football has been practiced for many years. From small to large trains several times a week and plays competitions. Goals are made in different ways, but also a jump in the air, a duel where the heads of players often bump into each other, the ball that is shot so hard and can also hit the head and where you can get a concussion and then the head of the ball what one still often does is also what happens in football. And there was attention to that a while ago. For the umpteenth time. Is the heads of the ball wise to do and maybe we shouldn't avoid the heads of the ball?? Doctors of the UMC from Amsterdam rang the bell in October last year and asked attention to it. This is a result of studies that have shown that the head of the ball can potentially cause brain injury, including older dementia. Many hundreds of old top football players at home and abroad seem to be struggling with brain disease CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). It's not the first time the bell has been pulled. Erik Matser, neuropsychologist did this already in the nineties. 

It is a subject that has been underexposed for far too long, and whenever only a little attention was asked to be paid to it by doctors, scientists and relatives of victims, the subject of brain injury was pushed to the head. One should not talk about it or start on this subject and denouncing signals seemed to be out of the question, because especially sports federations did not want to. To what extent is that harmful to the football cubs? You don't want to have a term brain injury attached to you as a football club. The KNVB says that if you head the ball correctly, you won't be able to get a brain injury. The doctors from the AMC dispute this and discussed it with the KNVB. Since 2018, there is a special KNVB poli in the AMC where athletes can keep complaints after concussion. At this clinic we are working on recovery, but research is also being carried out into the various forms of concussions and how these complaints manifest themselves. From the sports boxing and rugby we know the stories that athletes who have had to take because of the many blows to the head they have caused brain damage and in the longer term caused dementia.

Yet you are now seeing small steps that are being taken to investigate and take seriously this problem of brain injury, including concussions and CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). For example, at the 2022 World Cup in Quatar there will be “brain injury spotters” in the gallery. Their task is to signal brain injury among players. Teamdoctors on the sidelines sometimes overlook brain injury. After all, it is busy on such a sideline. A brain injury spotter can then give a warning from the stand to the team doctor if there is an event of brain injury. There will also be opportunities in the dug-out for the team doctors to see a situation where possible brain injury, such as a concussion occurs they can look back for assessment. Brain injury spotters have been in the stands for years in American Football and Ice Hockey sports. 

Image of Phillip Kofler via Pixabay

Why is one now so attentive to it rather not want to head with your head at sports football?
Research has shown that the so-called protein Tau that is produced in the brain cells and connects the nerve cells together ensures stability of the nerves and transport of substances. If this is disturbed by hard blows, the protein accumulates and disrupts the connection between the nerve cells.
Due to that disturbed connection, impulses are no longer given, as a result of which the death of brain cells occurs. This is expressed in all sorts of complaints, such as influence on our thinking performance, poor concentration, sluggishness and you become forgetful. We often notice these kinds of complaints only when we get older and can even cause dementia. Millions of people are affected annually by PCS (Postcommotional Syndrome), or residual damage after concussion. If you do not map and deal with the residual damage on time, certain complaints will be permanent. When an athlete gets a brain injury during a match, they often feel dizzy, suffer from headaches and nausea for a few days and then continue training and playing competitions. The question is whether that is wise and whether you should not guide those athletes much longer. I recognize this situation with my own son who, after a fall down a staircase, initially suffered a concussion and also had these complaints and a lot of vomiting, but the complaints persisted and there was no guidance at that time.. It had to pass by itself was then said by the general practitioner. Until I explained to a pediatrician on my own initiative a month later what was going on and then, after a waiting list of 4 months, a rehabilitation course was started. The accident happened in April and in September was only the first intake interview. As a parent, I plead for previous guidance, but also earlier forwarding when signaling to the hospital. He lay there for an overnight check, but did not go through the CT scan, while the GP suggested that, given the number of vomiting and drowning. He also had been unconscious for several minutes. You can read the whole story in the blog at the bottom of this post.