CTE could be predicted by cumulative force of head impacts
PLUS: The Week That Was and the Weekend That Will Be
A new study snappily titled “Leveraging football accelerometer data to quantify associations between repetitive head impacts and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in males” landed on online medical journal Nature Communications this week, adding weight to the belief that the more hits an athlete takes to the head, even subconcussive ones, the more likely they are to develop later-life cognitive and neurological issues.
The “wrinkle” in this study, as explained by the New York Times, was not just the number of impacts, but the cumulative force of those impacts.
The best predictor of brain disease later in life, the study found, was the cumulative force of the head hits absorbed by the players over the course of their careers, not the number of diagnosed concussions.
“We’re now getting a better understanding of what causes CTE pathology, but we’re also getting a better understanding of what’s not causing CTE pathology,” said Dr Daniel Daneshvar, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. “And in this case, it’s the largest study of CTE pathology ever, and concussions were basically noise.”
The study used data accumulated from accelerometers over the past 20 years to estimate the cumulative force of hits to those deceased players who had donated to various brain banks.
What is interesting is that it is understood that a soon-to-be-published New Zealand study, the largest of its kind in the world, will indicate little or no dose-response correlation between ex-rugby players and neurodegenerative diseases (although the NZ study measures length of career rather than specific head impacts or their force). This could be due to the obvious differences in the sports - for example, the helmet to helmet contact that is part and parcel of the game for those that play lineman in American football has no obvious parallel in rugby.
This does provide more food for thought around contact practices though. Even the most ardent CTE sceptics recognise that repeated head impacts have no positive health outcomes.
It is surely only a matter of time before guidelines around contact training sessions - full contact training (15 minutes), controlled contact (40 minutes) and live set piece (30 minutes) - become mandatory at all levels, possibly even at a reduced level.
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Thanks to all those who have entered the competition for Carl Hayman’s memoir Head On: Rugby, Dementia, and the Hidden Cost of Success. The Bounce has two copies of Head On to giveaway - both of which will be signed by Hayman. If you haven’t already, all you have to do is write what All Black number Carl was in the comments below. I’ll then put all the names in the hat and draw two and reply to those lucky subscribers for postal details before the end of the weekend.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Wait, what!? The Olympics tarnished by corruption. Sacre bleu.
French investigators searched the Paris Olympic organisers’ headquarters on Tuesday as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the Games, according to officials, the third straight time graft allegations have dogged [the] Summer Olympics.
The specific charges remain nebulous, but inevitably involve the embezzlement of public money and the awarding of lucrative contracts to favoured tenders.
Corruption in the bid processes for Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 (eventually held in 2021) led to the removal of several IOC members.
Faster. Higher. Stronger. Grubbier.
England fast bowler Ollie Robinson seems determined to play the whole pantomime villain thing, but to what end? Fresh from his first test antics, Robinson has burst into print to say that he was surprised at how defensive Australia were at Edgbaston.
We played all the cricket in the game. If it wasn’t for us, the Australians wouldn’t have even had a chance to win.”
I think if they’re honest, Australia will look at themselves and realise they need to change their approach to keep up with how we’re going to play.
Could someone tap him on the shoulder and gently remind him Australia won.
This doesn’t feel like it’s being done under Brendon McCullum’s direction. Perhaps it is Ben Stokes’ idea, but more likely it’s just a guy with maturity issues going off the reservation.
Good grist for the mill though.
England v Australia, 2nd test, Lord’s, starts Wednesday 10pm, Spark and TVNZ+
Wembanyamania officially began in San Antonio after the 2.19m Frenchman was, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, taken No 1 in today’s NBA draft. Victor Wembanyama has received more hype than any draft pick since 2003, when LeBron James went to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
The All Whites decision not to return to the field against Qatar was contentious. I’m not expecting everyone to agree with it. It’s a lazy trope to mention how polarised society has become but in this case I would expect the split of opinion to be roughly 25 percent dead against, 25 percent totally for, 25 percent who flip-flop depending upon who they last listened to, and 25 percent who have zero interest in life outside their bubble.
There is one argument that I have heard or read multiple times this week that I want to offer a different perspective on. The argument loosely goes that by taking this radical action, you open up the prospect of teams just quitting when they’re behind on the pretext of a racial slur.
My rebuttal would be two-pronged:
Please cite all the examples in professional football where teams have used a racial slur as a reason for not continuing a match when they’re behind on the scoreboard. If it has happened it has been incredibly rare. Racism in football by contrast is not rare. By using this argument you are effectively prioritising a non-existent or yet-to-exist problem over a very real problem.
If this sets a precedent and teams suddenly start walking off as a matter of course, is it actually the worst thing that could happen? For the paying spectators in the ground, yes, but sometimes radical action is the only thing that prompts fundamental change. Make Fifa treat this as their biggest priority. Look at ways to improve the microphone technology on the officials (the problem with the latest incident was that it essentially boils down to a hard-to-prove he-said, he-said situation) and take punitive action against transgressors.
I concede there is no simple solution to the problem of racism in football and in sport in general. Sometimes people are just dicks, but the idealist in me hopes that somehow the All Whites, by not just shutting up and getting on with it, are at the vanguard of meaningful change. The pragmatist/pessimist in me understands this is probably a forlorn hope, and the All Whites have probably messed in their own nest.
THE WEEKEND THAT WILL BE
A very select weekend of sports watching to recharge before the Ashes starts again.
The Bounce is really looking forward to the Super Rugby final, even if Graham Henry of St Heliers has become the latest World Cup winner to fire shots at the beleaguered competition.
“I think having even teams is really important and some of the teams haven’t been that competitive because they simply haven’t got the players to be competitive.”
(As a grumpy-old-man aside, one of the first things I was taught in journalism was to remove the words ‘I think’ from all quoted material unless they are directly referencing Descartes. We know they’re thinking it because they’re saying it.)
Back to the footy, the Chiefs have consistently been the best team to watch all season, with Sam Cane playing arguably the best rugby of his career, a resurgent Damian McKenzie offering direction as well as dazzle, and the electric talents of Shaun Stevenson and Emoni Narawa out wide. It will be especially interesting to see whether Brad Weber plays with an extra edge in his final game for the Chiefs. Judging by the correspondence received following the All Blacks team naming, it appears I am far from Robinson Crusoe in thinking he has been royally shafted by the All Black selectors.
On the other side, you have the perfectly curated winning machine - a club with such high expectations that they consider being a beaten finalist a “down year”. They’d love to send warrior-like lock Sam Whitelock out a winner, though it is understood there is still a chance he will be ruled out on game day with his grumbling Achilles. Richie Mo’unga is also suiting up for the last time in a while, though it would be less of a surprise to see the 29-year-old first-five back at some stage in the future.
The Chiefs are likely the neutrals’ pick, but I have a feeling the neutrals will be disappointed.
Chiefs v Crusaders, Hamilton, tomorrow 7.05pm, Sky Sport 1
Fresh off the bye, the sprightly Warriors travel to play hapless St George, a team whose best player, Ben Hunt, wants out. That should at least ensure a feisty crowd, even if the emotions tilts negative.
“The reception won’t be good on Friday, but that’s all right,” said Hunt, of the Wollongong welcome. “Our fans are extremely passionate, I understand they can be disappointed, that’s the way they are. But I’ll still go out and do the best I can for the Dragons.”
Everything, including the points table, points towards a Warriors win… so why do I feel so uneasy about it?
St George v NZ Warriors, Wollongong, tonight 10pm, Sky Sport 4
Just make the cut. Yes, it’s first things first for Lydia Ko as she battles to play on the weekend at Baltusrol. It has been far from a vintage season for Ko, who struggled to a first-round three-over 74. Working in her favour: only 16 in the field of 156 bettered par, led by South Africa’s Lee-Ann Pace on -5.
PGA Championship, round two, Springfield, tomorrow from 3am, Sky Sport 6
It’s not an amazing tableau of live sports this weekend, particularly from a local perspective, but cast around the channels, watch some NBL, maybe some AFL, Under 20 RWC, CWC qualifying, or, if you want a really good watch Unchained, the Drive to Survive-styled look at the Tour de France on Netflix. I know plenty disagree with me, but I don’t think tennis (Break Point) and particularly golf (Full Swing) worked in this format, but this certainly does. Things that move fast, have lots of moving parts and contain a strong technical and team aspect are made for this style of docuseries. Also, the Black Sticks men’s and women’s are free on Spark in the FIH Pro League.
Carl Hayman was #1,000. Always enjoy reading your work, Dylan!
An incredible man and a magical #1,000.
Wish him the best and will be getting the book.
Thanks for continuing to shine a light in this, Dyls.