In a new study, researchers found white matter changes in the brains of children after a single season of playing football. According to the study It is not only concussion that affects the brain.
In the United States around 30 million children participate in sports, which is good for health benefits but the risk involved should not be overlooked. In the U.S. more than 3.5 million injuries are incurred through sports with the majority occurring in contact sport like football.
For the study, Dr. Christopher Whitlow and team enrolled 25 male youth that were football players in the age group of 8 to 13 years who underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) before and after the football season.
In their analysis, it was found that youths who had experienced higher cumulative head impact showed reduced FA in certain areas of the brain compared to those who had lower head impact exposure.
"These decreases in FA caught our attention, because similar changes in FA have been reported in the setting of mild TBI," notes Dr. Whitlow.
"Football is a physical sport, and players may have many physical changes after a season of play that completely resolve. These changes in the brain may also simply resolve with little consequence. However, more research is needed to understand the meaning of these changes to the long-term health of our youngest athletes.
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