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Football players who hit the ball are more likely to experience short-term balance problems.
These repetitive effects can cause subtle neurological deficits previously unknown.
"Soccer headers are repetitive subconcussive head impacts that can be badociated with thinking and memory problems and structural changes in the white matter of the brain," says John Jeka, Ph.D., professor and Chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology at the College of Health Sciences, in a press release
"But the effect of the headers on balance control does not come into play. has not been studied, "he adds
. the Conference on Sports Concussions of the American Academy of Neurology in Indianapolis
The team of researchers led by Jeka studied 20 national recreation and football club UD community, Wilmington and Newark. Participants answered questions about the number of times they ran the ball and how often they played and practiced. The average player was 22 years old and reported 451 balls in the past year.
Players were asked to walk on a foam cushion with their eyes closed. They were tested in two conditions: one with electrodes placed behind their ears to give them the impression of falling sideways, and another without stimulation. The electrodes use a tool called galvanic vestibular stimulation that stimulates the nerves of the inner ear and brain that affect balance.
The study found that players exposed to more repetitive head impacts were more affected by vestibular stimulation. balance problems. For every 500 cases reported by a player, food intake and hip adduction reactions increased slightly, the statement said.
"At this point, it seems that frequent changes of direction can lead to subtle alterations in the equilibrium. , PhD, one of the authors of the study. "The question is, how do we get these very subtle effects and how do they manifest themselves to the complications of life later?"
Because balance problems are so subtle, there may be no external indication of the repetitive impact of the head. according to Fernando V. Santos, another author of the study.
Santos and Caccese note that more research is needed to learn more about the effects of repetitive head impact. The next step is to better understand how people use sensory information to maintain balance after a concussion and even a slight impact on the head that does not lead to concussion symptoms.
"The hope is to identify a concussion, but also if there are repetitive head impact effects, identify the individuals who will be susceptible to it. Not everyone has the effects of repetitive football titles, "Caccese shares. "We need to identify the people who have it, identify why they have it, and how to treat it – and if balance deficits persist, then you can design targeted interventions to rehabilitate these deficits." Equilibrium. "
[Source(s): University of Delaware, Science Daily]
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