Football codes challenged to join dementia fight

Updated March 17, 2013 15:19:51

Alzheimer's Australia is putting pressure on the nation's football codes to do more research about concussion and the long-term impact on players.

The New South Wales branch of the organisation has released a paper that collates overseas research, mainly from the United States, about concussion and how it affects footballers later in life.

The study makes several recommendations, including that the nation's four big football codes - the NRL, the AFL, the ARU and the FFA - do their own research on the issue.

NSW branch chief executive John Watkins says the data shows a real cause for concern.

"[It] links concussions to loss of memory and dementia at an earlier stage than might normally be the case," he said.

"The codes have a responsibility to their players to undertake much more research in this area.

"Particularly with retired football players, to see if there is evidence of post-career cognitive impairment, and even the development of dementia as a result of multiple concussions sustained during their careers."

Clinical neuropsychologist Dr Andrew Gardner, who contributed to the discussion paper, urged Australian sports players to be aware of the potential risks of repeated head trauma.

"We can't ignore the current data and pretend we are immune here in Australia," Dr Gardner said.

"We need to conduct sound research of our own before we can draw conclusions.

"While the increased media focus on sports-related concussion and the potential long-term consequences of these injuries for retired athletes is certainly welcome, the community and particularly athletes and parents of younger athletes need to be educated with well-balanced information."

The football codes have not responded to the paper so far, but the AFL says it will host the nation's first conference about concussions in sport this week.

Topics: alzheimers-and-dementia, australian-football-league, sport, rugby-league, rugby-union, soccer, nsw

First posted March 17, 2013 14:30:30

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-17/football-codes-challenged-to-join-dementia-fight/4578114

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