Can playing contact sports be a cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other memory related diseases?
A new study commissioned by the National Football League and reported by the New York Times indicates that former players have a significantly higher chance of Alzheimer’s disease and other memory related problems.
Please see the video below for a recent interview I conducted on this subject.
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9 Comments
This is very interesting and troubling given the importance of contact sports such as football in the US. On a different note, and at the risk of being rude, Dr. Amen seems to have a lot of trouble talking without “uhs” and “ums.” Is that just a bad habit or is he struggling to construct sentences due to some sort of brain problem. This is a serious question, and I apologize if it points out a problem. I guess I atribute such speech problems with problems in the brain.
I had a car accident several years ago…I was driving a Land Rover and a commercial truck.hit me from behind…I saw stars…it took several years to show up in my memory..my brain was damaged…I had to give up my real estate broker business….I did not call the police because I had no information..on how harmful a situation like that was…..
Daniel,
Excellent video, very informative. I look forward to hearing more about your specific suggestions regarding brain rehab supplements.
SPECT images show the damage, and at CorePsych we have been using specific neurotransmitter measurements and comprehensive metabolic panels to target the follow up interventions.
As we discussed years ago, if you don’t look you can’t see.
Chuck
I have ataxia. I have been falling a lot lately. I have consulted my nutrisionist, and she thinks it is due to medicines I have been taking.
I have utilized Dr. Amen’s brilliant research and Spect brain imaging in my addiction practice since 2004. Since then, I have treated many NFl and college level football players who developed Oxycontin addiction from their football injuries.
I encourage all of my professional wrestlers and football players to undergo Spect imaging at the Amen Clinics a month or so after drug detoxification. Every football player and professional wrestler I have treated for opiate addiction, if they played through college level, NFL or WWE, came back from the Amen Clinic with really ugly, traumatic brain scans.
Most of the players suffered severe temporal lobe damage and subsequently exibited rage issues, often with spontaneous panic attacks, some with depression. Their wives insisted that they suffered more from their husband’s rage issues, while some of the players considered the rage an occupational advantage, eventually they all admitted it got them into trouble. The players also think that it is normal to experience “deje vu” once a week, not once a year. [Read about temporal lobe trauma in Dr. Amen's Book, Healing Anxiety and Depression]
With the tremendous advantage I have gained by intense study of Daniel Amen’s research, I have proven that these addicted football players and pro wrestlers, were in fact, using Oxycontin, more for the purpose of quiescing the mini-seizures in their damaged temporal lobes, than for treating their physical knee/back pain.
When treated effectively with high dose pharaceutical grade GABA or anticonvulsant medication, the players/wrestlers no longer crave or “need” Oxycontin, nor do they abuse alcohol for it’s GABA A receptor effect.
Alcohol and Oxycontin “like” pain medication, eventually shut down pituitary gland function, creating multiple hormonal deficiencies that are causative for increased pain sesitivity, depression, chronic fatigue and disorders like “Leaky Gut Syndrome.”
Hopefully after completing his NFL study, Dr. Amen will commence a study on professional wrestlers and soccor players.
Rick Sponaugle M.D. Medical Director of Florida Detox and Wellness Institute
Hi Dr. Amen,
I’m a big fan of your imaging work because I do it too with qEEG. What I see happens to the kids when they play soccer with the Type A coaches who force the kids to do 45 minute head shot only practices once a week in Ardsley NY really frightens me. I wish we could get to these coaches too who are sending me way too many clients because the parents don’t know any better.
Well my cousin had an accident in the local metro rail while he was in Malaysia. He damaged a large part of his brain, suffered memory loss and had to undergo brain cell transplantation. And even 14 years hence, he is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Amen,
Have read several of your books and have gotten some of your DVDs. Even as a layman, I’m impressed with all the eye-opening material you’ve put together.
On a related note to football players and brain injuries, I once saw on your website a story about identical twin girls and how, after one of them suffered a head injury from falling off the top of bunk beds, their lives went in remarkably different directions. As I recall, the twin who was injured started having all kinds of behavioral problems that were not found in the other twin.
I’d like to be able to get ahold of a copy of that article. My own interest in the subject stems from also having fallen off the top bunk of a bunk bed when I was 5-6 years old. As a result of having read some of your writings on the subject of brain trauma and their potential effect on a person’s life, I’m curious if some of the difficulties I’ve had in life subsequent to the episode of falling out of bed is traceable to any brain trauma I may have suffered at the time, but which went undiagnosed for lack of a thorough examination.
I very much look forward to hearing from you or someone on your staff about this.
Respectfully,
John Ghormley
Portland, Ore.
I am a middle school science teacher. I had the opportunity to hear you speak several years ago at my previous district. Today I showed my students some of the brain scan images of drug users from your website. This was for “Red Ribbon Week”. The kids were riveted, and it really helped de-bunk the harmless myth that pot has recently received. It really made the kids wonder about “medical marijuana” and its evangelists who tout it as a treatment for everything from glaucoma to hang nails. Do you have any specific resources for educators? Thank you for the work you are doing. It is very valuable.