Hey Football, Hockey Players, Boxers -- Even Soccer Heading May lead to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

In a very small study -- Michael Lipton, MD, PhD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., reported at the Radiological Society of North America meeting that soccer players may suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from simply heading soccer balls:

"These are changes in the brain that are similar to those we see with a concussion or TBI," Lipton said during a press briefing. "I'm not advocating banning heading, but there may be a threshold level, which we defined, that indicates a safe range of heading. Heading a soccer ball is not an impact of a magnitude that will lacerate nerve fibers in the brain," said Dr. Lipton. "But repetitive heading may set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells.""

Their conclusion: "Greater heading frequency is associated with low [Fractional anisotropy] FA. Exceeding a threshold for heading frequency (1000-1500) may result in brain abnormalities similar to those seen in TBI. Investigation of the relationship of the imaging abnormalities to cognitive performance is needed."

Doctors recommended greatly limiting 'practice heading' where children bounce balls off their heads back-and-forth until large scale studies can be conducted.

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