Brain Damage in football and Boxing
What is it about?
Chronic brain damage has been reported in retired boxers and American football players. Most of these reports have assumed that the brain damage is the same in boxers and football players. We examined the medical literature on this topic and found that the features of brain damage are different between participants in the two sports.
Why is it important?
It is often claimed that chronic brain damage in retired American football players is the same thing as the chronic brain damage that has been reported in retired boxers dating back to the 1920s. Our review of the literature indicates that this is not the case - there are significant differences between the clinical and neuropathological features of the neurological syndromes seen in the two sports. We point out the biomechanical differences between head impacts in the two sports that may account for some of these differences.