There is now widespread evidence that years of pushing, bumping and bumping in football and rugby can increase the chance of dementia and other neurological diseases.
Latest – Preliminary research – presented on the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July 2026 – examined 142 former skilled footballers aged 30 to 60 and 56 people of comparable age who had no history of contact sports or repetitive head impact.
Both groups performed similarly on objective cognitive tests, which measure abilities akin to memory, attention and decision-making. Middle-aged retired footballers self-reported poor mood, high levels of tension and poor cognition.
MRI brain scans were available for 124 former athletes and 40 non-athletes. On average, footballers had less gray matter in several regions involved in memory, attention, decision-making and emotional regulation. Gray matter is brain tissue that comprises many nerve cells that process information.
These findings deserve attention, although they don’t show that soccer causes the differences or that each one players will develop dementia. The results are preliminary, haven’t yet undergone thorough peer review, and are available from one study conducted at a single cut-off date. Researchers might want to follow participants for years to see if their symptoms or brain changes progress.
In 2020, I worked in a team. Comparable Questionnaire Answers of 468 retired male skilled footballers, including 619 males in the overall population as controls. Of these, 326 former athletes and 395 controls also accomplished a telephone-based cognitive dementia screening test.
Former footballers were generally as healthy as they might be. safe They are against dementia. Overall, they reported less diabetes, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and fewer smoking and diagnosed depression — though they experienced significantly more concussions and serious head injuries.
Average performance on some cognitive tests was similar. But on others, including tests of verbal fluency and every day functioning, former athletes scored lower. After adjusting for differences akin to age, education, hearing loss and health conditions, former athletes were twice as more likely to meet dementia screening cutoffs on tests of verbal memory and verbal fluency.
A screening cutoff is a threshold used to discover individuals who can have cognitive difficulties. Falling below this doesn’t confirm dementia, but indicates that further medical evaluation could also be needed.
Former athletes were also more more likely to report that a health care provider had diagnosed them with dementia or one other neurodegenerative disease, a condition that involves the progressive loss or damage of nerve cells.
The study was cross-sectional: it captured participants at one cut-off date. It may show an association between skilled soccer careers and poor outcomes on some measures, but cannot prove causation.
Heading a ball is a possible contributor to an increased risk of dementia. In one A separate analysis of 459 retired footballersthose that missed heading the ball greater than 15 times during a typical match or training session had greater than thrice the adjusted odds of cognitive impairment in comparison with those that reported five or fewer headers.
The finding mustn’t be interpreted as evidence that 15 headers are secure and 16 are dangerous. Players were assessing exposure from careers that always ended a long time ago, and the study grouped their responses into broad categories. More accurate, long-term measurements are needed, including following these retired athletes over time.
Major studies of former skilled footballers Scotland And Sweden Prove our results. Both found higher rates of dementia or other neurodegenerative diseases amongst outfield players, while goalkeepers didn’t show the identical apparent increase. Defenders, who normally head the ball more often, were probably the most vulnerable within the Scottish research. We found similar trends in our study.
The headline is simply a part of the image. Footballers may sustain concussions through head contact, falls and collisions with other players or goal posts. A concussion is a brain injury brought on by a blow or force that disrupts brain function, but doesn’t necessarily cause lack of consciousness.
In our study of retired skilled footballers, concussion with memory loss was independently related to greater odds of dementia risk.
Research on former elite rugby players have expressed similar concerns in regards to the long-term effects of repeated blows to the top. Separate research Loughborough University used instrumented mouthguards to measure head acceleration during matches and located that greater exposure was related to lower mood, anger, fatigue and more symptoms of tension amongst young elite athletes.
Mood symptoms require assistance on their very own, but depression or anxiety in a former athlete is probably not considered evidence of brain damage. Although each have been found to be risk aspects for dementia, depression in mid- and later life is a fancy one relationship with dementia in later life. Longer-term follow-up is required to find out what the outcomes mean.
Current Football Association Guidance No greater than ten power headers during a training week are beneficial for skilled sports. These include headers from long passes, crosses, corners and free kicks.
FA Connection Guidance It also says that any player with a suspected concussion ought to be removed immediately, not return to play that day, and receive an appropriate medical evaluation. Recovery should include a gradual return to normal activity after which football, guided by symptoms and skilled advice.
Football brings many physical, social, health and psychological advantages. The evidence doesn’t justify panic — but it surely does justify minimizing avoidable head impacts, properly managing concussions, and monitoring athletes during and after their careers.