Heading soccers balls can lead to cell damage says UBCO study

It’s one of the most common maneuvers in soccer, but heading a soccer ball could be more dangerous than previously thought.

New research out of UBC Okanagan suggests that repetitive impacts of a soccer ball on a player’s head could cause damage to the cells of the nervous system.

UBCO neuroscientist Paul van Donkelaar and his team evaluated the impact of headers on the blood levels of two nerve cell enriched proteins, tau and light neurofilament (NF-L), and then compared the results to a day without headers.

When researchers compared days where participants headed soccer balls with days they did not, it was found that NF-L levels in participants who had headed a ball where higher up to one month later

It was found that players who had headed soccer balls had higher NF-L levels that day and up to 22 days afterward than those who did not head soccer balls.

The higher NF-L levels correlated with a higher number of concussion-like symptoms such as headaches, dizziness and confusion.

“We believe this is the first study to measure blood levels of NF-L and tau prior to, immediately after and 22 days following a series of soccer headings,” said Prof. van Donkelaar.

“These findings suggest that repetitive impacts in the form of soccer headers can cause damage to the nerve cells as measured by elevated NF-L levels and increased concussion-related symptoms.”

To read the full results of the study, click here.