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The Case Against Football

But such a study is impossible to do.
 
PhDeac said:
But such a study is impossible to do.
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It's not. A large number of people donate their body to science, and there are many brain banks worldwide. In fact, baseline rates of CTE are already known. About 12% of older individuals, with or without a history of neurodegenerative disease, have CTE.
 
The game has changed and will continue to change. At all levels, there is significantly less contact in practice now, and head shots during games have been reduced. The game will continue to trend in that direction.

With that said, there will always be risks associated with playing football (just like there are for lots of other activities). Fewer kids may participate, but as a spectator sport, it will be long time, if ever, before "Lord Football" loses its spot a top the US sports landscape.
 
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I agree with the changes made so far to football rules - limiting contact and penalizing head shots.

3 anecdotal points though:

1 - I coached youth football for 10+ years and in my experience, kids were more likely to have a serious injury (broken bones, concussions, etc) at home (skateboarding, water skiing or playing pickup basketball / football) than there were with equipment on at football practice or a game.

2 - On a related note, if these kids weren't spending 10 to 15 hours per week at football practices / games, they would fill that time with other activities that would cause significant injuries too (e.g. boys will be boys).

3 - for all the risks involved with football, there are lots of positives that come from boys playing football.
 
I still maintain if you really want to reduce concussions, you take off the helmets.

I know it seems counter-intuitive but wearing a helmet, pads, etc. makes you take shots you'd never take if you weren't wearing a suit of armor.

This probably ups the "death by skull fracture" factor though.
 
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Couple of points:

Rafi is right. The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, for one, will help answer a lot of these questions. It has been going on for over 50 years and consists of a cross section of ordinary citizens who are studied cognitively throughout life and most agreed to donate their brains (although that is not mentioned in the recruitment brochures).

There was a post about CTE and Alzheimer's Disease and when they were known. A lot of people are surprised to find out that Alzheimer's disease was described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906. However, it was considered a rare, exotic disease until a couple of British researchers published an article in 1972 showing that it was fairly common.

Sorry, carry on.
 
Here is a counter-point to some of the CTE claims recently - https://sports.yahoo.com/im-brain-scientist-let-son-play-football-135727314.html

It will be decades before we truly know how risky football (under the current set of rule) really is. By way of example, in my playing experience, practices for youth football and high school football were often brutal (whereas practices at wake had significantly less contact during the season). Today, with all of the rule changes - my son plays high school football in NC, and by rule, they are only allowed to have full contact in practice a maximum of 1 hour per week (and they rarely come close to that). Watching games on Friday nights, the game has 'deteriorated' some from a tackling perspective (because teams rarely practice it), but the game is still pretty much the same.
 
91deac said:
Here is a counter-point to some of the CTE claims recently - https://sports.yahoo.com/im-brain-scientist-let-son-play-football-135727314.html

It will be decades before we truly know how risky football (under the current set of rule) really is. By way of example, in my playing experience, practices for youth football and high school football were often brutal (whereas practices at wake had significantly less contact during the season). Today, with all of the rule changes - my son plays high school football in NC, and by rule, they are only allowed to have full contact in practice a maximum of 1 hour per week (and they rarely come close to that). Watching games on Friday nights, the game has 'deteriorated' some from a tackling perspective (because teams rarely practice it), but the game is still pretty much the same.
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So let's say 30% of kids who play football at a high level get CTE later in life, is that OK? Is that worth the risk?

Would you let your kid do something that has a 30% chance of landing them in a wheelchair? Or give them a debilitating disease?
 
RJKarl said:
So let's say 30% of kids who play football at a high level get CTE later in life, is that OK? Is that worth the risk?

Would you let your kid do something that has a 30% chance of landing them in a wheelchair? Or give them a debilitating disease?
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Stop telling people how to raise their kids when you've never come close to having your own.
 
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Keep trying Juice, maybe one day you'll have an original thought...I'm not holding my breath.

BTW, that's actually one of my two favorite reviews. It makes me laugh. She couldn't have missed the point more if she was you.
 
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