"A New Worry for Soccer Parents: Heading the Ball"

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/a-new-worry-for-soccer-parents-heading-the-ball/


     Many people, including myself, have wondered if it is bad to head a soccer ball, and what the effects are, if there are any at all.  This article discusses a study that was performed by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.  They recruited 34 adults, men and women, who "had played soccer since childhood and now competed year-round in adult soccer leagues".  They filled out a questionnaire, participated in computerized memory tests, tested their cognitive skills, and had their brains scanned.  In the data that the researchers presented, the players "who had headed the ball more than about 1,100 times in the previous 12 months showed significant loss of white matter in parts of their brains involved with memory, attention, and the processing of visual information, compared with players who had headed the ball fewer times".  According to the author, this pattern of white matter loss is similar to those seen in the brains of people who have had a traumatic brain injury.  The researchers who performed the experiment also stated that the players who had headed the ball about 1,100 times or more in the past year were a lot worse at recalling lists of words read to them or forgetting/fumbling the words compared to the soccer players that had headed the ball less.  Personally, this article was very interesting since I play soccer.  Also,  I wonder how the effects of heading the ball get worse due to old age, after the players have stopped playing soccer.
     The article was presented in a factual manner which was useful in displaying the information in an easy-to-understand way.  The author explained the problem, the experiment, and the conclusion.  he did not display much bias as to what his opinion on the subject is, but rather gave all the information he had gathered in a carefully written essay.  The author wanted to make sure this article was read by many people.  By the way he wrote, it was apparent that he believed that the subject was very important to those playing soccer.