Playing Football Before Age 12 Could Lead to Cognitive and Mood Disorders

A few years ago, scientists saw signs of preventable disease in the autopsy brain of former NFL. player

Now, experts have discovered that solving the symptoms of footballers' minds is not limited to diseases - especially for those who start the race before 12 years of age, there is a full range of cognitive and emotional disorders maybe

Of the 214 former amateur and professional athletes, those who began before 12 years of age had a higher risk of depression and cognitive impairment in their 50s. Adolescence was very neurologically active, during which there were many brain-related milestones. This means that what happens to your wrinkles and synapses during this time tends to predict your mental condition later.

There were a couple of tips before this time that serious hits could have sustained impact. In 2015, Stern and colleagues surveyed the players of 42 former national football leagues, and found that those who started playing before the age of 12 are at higher risk of cognitive impairment in later years. Last year, researchers led by neurologists at Wake Forest Medical School repeatedly shocked heads to 25 young athletes from 8 to 13 years old, and the structure of the brain changed without causing concussion .

However, in another study last year, researchers did not attempt to reproduce the association between the early football games and the risk of cognitive impairment in 45 retired NFL players. In this study, the player's health checkup was sponsored by the NFL and the NFL was criticized for intervention studies. Several authors, including Gary Solomon, the lead author of Vanderbilt University, have consulted or collaborated with NFL in the past.

However, in this new study, the neuroscientist Robert Stern of Boston University and his colleagues discovered that there is a strong link between the start age and various cognitive tests (with the exception of one test, I think about this.) The test is not so exhaustive nor accurate. Specifically, he said that players who began earlier than 12 years of age had twice the chances of reporting "behavior barriers" on behavioral regulation, apathy and execution functions, raising the possibility of clinical symptoms of depression I judged. 3 or more times

This study, published in today's Journal of Translational Psychiatry, does not evaluate the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.), which appears repeatedly in brain scans of deceased professional football players. However, scientists strongly demand that some neurological symptoms are not specific to the disease. The study was also limited, as it did not consider different types of equipment and the participant group was self-selected. However, as data comes out, rewriting of youth sports regulations will be displayed immediately.

On the average announced in Annals of Neurology, those who played football before 12 years of age had cognitive impairment before 13.39 years, behavior earlier than 12 years of age appeared at 13.28 years It was. And emotional problems. In addition, for young people exposed to football every year, cognitive problems occur two to four years ago, and behavioral and emotional problems occur 2.5 years ago. Ann McKee, director of the CTE center of the university who is the author of the study, says: Statement to US Sports Today "Normally, children with fast brain development should not be beaten head repeatedly during the season"

A 2018 study by the VA Boston Healthcare System and the Boston University Medical School found that football before 12 years old was associated with early onset of CTE symptoms but was not related to severity of symptoms. More specifically, players are playing football less than 12 years old each year, early onset of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional problems is on average for two and a half years. The National Football League (NFL) and the National University Sports Association (NCAA) are the most popular football leagues in the United States. Established in 1920, the National Football League has since become the largest and most popular sport in America. NFL has an average participation rate of 66,960 in the NFL season in 2011, the highest average participation rate among any sports leagues in the world. The NFL Championship, known as the Super Bowl, is one of the biggest events in club sports around the world.