Project Launched To Monitor Early Signs Of Dementia In Ex-Footballers
Researchers at the University of East Anglia are crowd-funding a new £1 million project to test former professional football players for early signs of dementia.
Recent research commissioned by The FA from the University of Glasgow has shown that retired male players are around five times more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease compared with the average person.
But little is known about exactly when players start to show signs of the disease and even less about the effects in women as the majority of research has focussed on men.
The UEA research team will use cutting-edge technology to test for early signs of dementia in men and women, that are identifiable long before any memory problems or other noticeable symptoms become apparent.
The University has launched a £1 million fundraising goal for this research, at least 10 per cent of which they hope will be crowd-funded.
Lead researcher Dr Michael Grey, from UEA’s School of Health Sciences, said: “We now know that there is much higher risk of dementia in former professional footballers, and we think this is related to repetitive heading of the ball. We do not know if this extends to the amateur level.
“So there will be many footballers out there who are understandably very worried about their futures.
“We will be working with former professional players to investigate and track their brain health over time.
“We hope to follow these footballers for the rest of their lives.
“This is the first time that this type of research has been done,” he added.
Former players in the Eastern region will be the first to take part in the SCORES project (Screening Cognitive Outcomes after Repetitive head impact Exposure in Sport) – before the study is rolled out nationally later this year.
The research team is looking for former professional players to take part.
Former Norwich City Football Club striker Iwan Roberts, who played more than 600 games for club and country, is already backing the project.
He said: “I played football for 20 years professionally, and headed many balls over that period. I want to see whether there is anything I should be concerned about in the foreseeable future.
“It’s always important to improve and make things better. The game has improved, balls are lighter, but the modern-day player will still be at risk of this type of illness.
“We don’t know how young children cope with heading the ball. I personally think that [heading the ball] should be banned from a certain age.
“The research they are doing here will help everybody,” he added.
The project is among a number of pieces of work in the Concussion Action Programme, a research group within UEA Health and Social Care Partners.
To take part, please visit www.scoresproject.org. To contact the team about the project, please email scoresproject@uea.ac.uk.
Those who would like to chip in, to help make this project possible, are invited to visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/SCORES to make a donation to the research. Your donation will go towards funding the equipment, software development, and researcher time to carry out this vital research.
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