Study Shows Amateur Boxers At Risk Of Brain Injury

[potatoes]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2754225.shtml

(WebMD) A new study gives added scientific meaning to the term punch drunk.

Researchers report that even the relatively mild blows to the head incurred by amateur boxers appear to cause brain damage.

The researchers analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid of 14 amateur boxers for protein markers of brain injury. Levels of one particular marker for brain damage, known as neurofilament light (NFL) protein, were four times higher in boxers within 10 days of the fight than in healthy non-boxers.

In the study, the boxers were tested both after a fight and then again three months after their last match. NFL levels were still elevated three months later.

Researcher Max Hietala, M.D., Ph.D., of Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden, tells WebMD that the Swedish boxers studied were wearing helmets that were much better padded than those generally used in U.S. amateur fights.

"Regardless of the gear, if they got hit more than 15 times, it was like having a mini-stroke," he says.

NFL levels were up to eight times higher in amateur boxers who received more than 15 high-impact hits to the head after a match than after the three-month rest.

"Given that amateur fights are much shorter and generally involve milder head blows than pro fights, you can just imagine what's happening to professional boxers," James Kelly, M.D., a visiting professor of neurosurgery at the University of Colorado in Denver, tells WebMD. Kelly was not involved with the work.

The study was presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting.

Hietala says a well-thrown punch carries more than a half-ton of force. He says that the hits cause brain cells to die. Then they leak proteins into the cerebrospinal fluid.

"If you get a concussion, you'll also have elevated NFL levels, but there's nothing you can do," Hietala says. "With boxing, you can."

"We've seen some studies [on this topic before], but this is much more scientifically detailed, with finer testing," Kelly says. "This is truly worrisome."

Not all the news is distressing: The researchers found that no evidence of increased levels of NFL or other markers of brain injury in medical students who volunteered to repeatedly hit a soccer ball with their heads.

"Our conclusion is that hitting a soccer ball with your head is not dangerous," Hietala says.

Did the researchers mention that concussions requiring hospitalization are more common in football players than in boxers? Both in total numbers and by percentage of participants. Did they mention that boxing in about 10th in the list of sports where fatalities occur? Did they mention that horse racing kills more jockies in one year than boxing does in 10 years? Did they mention that most boxers still have their teeth at the end of their careers whereas most hockey players have dentures? Did they mention that it is rare for paralysis and paraplegia to occur in boxers yet all too common in poll vaulters? There are risks in every sport, but the stats clearly show that boxing carries no higher risk than any other sport.

[realheavyhands]

i think football is even worse

[beez721]

i think football is even worse

yea,,,football is much worse but boxing gets the bad rap for obvious reasons. its a shame

[phallus]

yea,,,football is much worse but boxing gets the bad rap for obvious reasons. its a shame

hockey was getting bad too, a lot of concussions, i agree about football. i remember fighting a couple big punchers in the amateurs, this one guy, damn it felt like every shot was giving me brain damage

[David06]

yea,,,football is much worse but boxing gets the bad rap for obvious reasons. its a shame

Not to mention the number of football players who can barely walk or get out bed after a long career.

I guess I fail to see how butting heads 25 times a week, 16 weeks a year(and remember, this is only games we're talking) for 10 or 15 years is better for the body and mind than catching some clean punches once a fight, 4 fights a year, for 10 or 15 years.

[Red_Menace]

I think the worry was that amateur boxers were sustaining more damage than they expected. Everyone knows if you make a living getting punched in the face, there are going to be repercussions. I just think people assumed amateur boxing, with head-gear was safer for long term health than it actually is.

Oh, and fighters like SRL are not very old yet. There are stages to punch-drunk syndrome/boxers dementia. I can't remember where I was reading, but it manifests approximately 15 years after the start of the fighters boxing career. The first stages might be subtle enough that the average person would not notice. Some of the symptoms are things like paranoia, that you wouldn't notice unless you spent time with the person. Anyway, it can become dramatically worse in a short period of time, or over a long period of time. Just because someone is fine a few years after retirement, doesn't mean they're going to stay fine.

[tyson]

Bump again. I'm bored.

[boxing4ever]

This is the truth but it makes me mad. I spar 2-3 times a week and every end of the month i like to take a full week off of sparring. When I spar I dont get hit often in the head and I move around good. id like 2 know from your guys view, would the way I am managing my sparring and everything am i walking towards a damagaing area of boxing? should I take more than a week off at the end of the month???

[tyson]

This is the truth but it makes me mad. I spar 2-3 times a week and every end of the month i like to take a full week off of sparring. When I spar I dont get hit often in the head and I move around good. id like 2 know from your guys view, would the way I am managing my sparring and everything am i walking towards a damagaing area of boxing? should I take more than a week off at the end of the month???

Difficult to say as I don't know how you spar or how much you get hit.

I spar 3 times a week, but never at full throttle. And I focus mostly on defence when I spar.

I specifically train myself to keep my eyes open to see the punches coming, and intentionally turn my head with the punch to lessen the impact.

Very rarely do I get hit hard in the head.