Using data from a large online survey sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, researchers found that participants who had a history of playing organized tackle football were 61% more likely to report a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis or parkinsonism, an umbrella term for symptoms like tremors and rigidity that cause movement problems, compared with those who played other organized sports.

  • @SheeEttin
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    41 year ago

    Yes, merely having the helmets does increase the risk of concussion. Partly because a player feels natural need to protect their head so they’re willing to take risks, and partly because a helmet converts what would have been a really bad injury into just a concussion.

    Ultimately, if they are serious about reducing concussions and other injuries, they’ll ban leading with the head (already done, I think) and hits to the head (already done for “defenseless” players, not sure what that means). Hopefully next is eliminating the three-point stance to further reduce head hits. Ideally they’d also find a way to eliminate hard tackles to the ground, but I can’t think of a way to do that without banning tackles entirely.

    • @JustAManOnAToilet
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      -11 year ago

      Reduce the weight of the helmet and you’ll reduce the amount of momentum involved in the hit, drastically reducing concussions. Science!

      • @SheeEttin
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        21 year ago

        Reduce yes, drastically probably not. You’re still going to have rapid acceleration and deceleration causing concussions.

      • XbSuper
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        11 year ago

        The person wearing the helmet is still 2-300 lbs, I don’t think a reduction in helmet weight would make the slightest difference.