‘Heading football can lead to brain damage’

HEADING a football too often can lead to brain damage, scientists have warned.

New research by the Radiological Society of North America found that football players who frequently headed the ball had brain abnormalities similar to those found in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

According to the report, executing more than 1,000 to 1,500 headers a year can lead to damage in five regions of the brain responsible for attention, memory, executive functioning and higher-order visual functions.