Heading a football ONCE boosts proteins linked to brain damage,
Heading a football just once is enough to temporarily raise levels of proteins linked to brain damage, a study has warned.
Scientists from Amsterdam UMC monitored hundreds of amateur football players, collecting blood samples before and after matches to measure specific biomarkers linked to brain cell damage.
Worryingly, they found that players who headed the ball more often, or from a longer distance, showed more dramatic changes to these biomarkers.
And while these returned to normal levels within one to two days, it could still lead to lasting damage, they warned.
‘We don’t know what this study says about permanent damage to the brain,’ lead author Jort Vijverberg said.
‘We’re essentially looking at “dust clouds” of damage. When the dust settles, that doesn’t mean the damage has disappeared.
‘These acute effects could lead to long–term damage if they occur repeatedly.
‘Whether this contributes to dementia remains uncertain, but the findings are important for shaping future policies on heading in soccer.’
Heading a football just once is enough to temporarily raise levels of proteins linked to brain damage, a study reveals
Rayo Vallecano’s Spanish forward Isi Palazon (top) and Crystal Palace’s English midfielder Adam Wharton vie for a header. Researchers have discovered that a single header during an amateur match is enough to generate signs of acute brain injury
In recent years, experts have raised concerns that playing football is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
The association is particularly strong for players in defensive positions, who tend to head the ball more than their teammates.
For the new study the researchers monitored more than 302 amateur football players during 11 matches.
Blood samples were collected, while video recordings were used to precisely track how often each player headed the ball and whether it was a high–intensity header – for example, following a long kick from the goalkeeper.
The results showed that players who headed the ball had higher levels of the p–tau217 and S100B biomarkers in their blood immediately after the match compared to the players who did not head the ball.
P–tau217 is a highly accurate biomarker that detects the hallmark brain changes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Elevated levels can predict the risk of cognitive decline years in advance.
S100B, meanwhile, acts as a key biomarker for brain tissue distress. In dementia research, elevated S100B is used to track disease progression, neurodegeneration and cognitive decline.
Players who headed the ball more often, or from a longer distance, showed more dramatic changes to these blood biomarkers
Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana wins a header during the UEFA Europa League Final 2026 match. In recent years experts have raised concerns that playing football is linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s
The number of headers and their intensity also played a role.
Neuroscientist Marsh Königs, who also worked on the study, said: ‘The more often a player headed the ball and the more forceful the header, the greater the effect measured in the blood.
‘The largest increase occurred after high–intensity headers, when the ball had travelled more than 20 meters (66 feet) through the air.’
After the match the biomarker levels declined and returned to normal within 24 to 48 hours.
But the scientists warned that heading must be taken seriously, even in amateur football.
The study, published in the journal Jama Neurology, reads: ‘Given links between repetitive head impacts and neurodegenerative disease, these findings suggest that even amateur–level heading may acutely affect neural integrity as reflected by blood biomarker concentration.’
Commenting on the findings Dr Peter Theobald, reader in biomedical engineering at Cardiff University, said: ‘This study adds to the emerging evidence that even modest head impacts elicit a negative response from brain tissue.
‘Even a small number of headers were found to correlate with a change in blood markers immediately post–match and again with 48–hours post–match. This would indicate that heading is causing some brain trauma.’
Other experts have previously argued that footballs should be sold with a dementia health warning to minimise risks associated with heading the ball.
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Professor Willie Stewart, a consultant neuropathologist at the University of Glasgow, said football has ‘fantastic health benefits’ but also comes with ‘a horrendous risk of dementia’.
Warnings on packaging may be needed to ‘focus people’s attention’ on the issue and would be ‘good and responsible public health’, he argued.
His research has provided the ‘strongest evidence yet’ that playing football – especially in defensive positions – is linked with a dramatic increase in the risk of developing the debilitating disease.
The 2021 study, published in the journal Jama Neurology, found that professional defenders are up to five times more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease – for example Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s – compared to the general population.
HOW DID ENGLAND STRIKER JEFF ASTLE DIE? INQUEST REVEALS HE SUFFERED CTE FROM HEADING LEATHER FOOTBALLS
Former England and West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle died in 2002
Former England and West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle (right) died in 2002.
He was only 59 but doctors said he had the brain of a 90-year-old after suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE is a progressive, degenerative brain disease found in individuals with a history of head injury, often as a result of multiple concussions.
An inquest ruled Astle died from dementia caused by heading footballs – the first British professional footballer to be officially confirmed to have done so.
Astle, who was left unable to recognise his own children, once commented that heading a football was like heading ‘a bag of bricks’.
His family set up the Jeff Astle Foundation in 2015 in order to raise awareness of brain injury in sport. His daughter Dawn said ‘the game that he lived for killed him’.
Danny Blanchflower, who captained Tottenham Hotspur during their double winning season of 1961, died after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in 1993. He was 67.
His death has also been linked to heading the heavy, leather balls of the 1940s and 50s, along with fellow Tottenham players Dave Mackay, Peter Baker and Ron Henry.
