AusGeoff wrote on Jun 26
th, 2022 at 6:42am:
Most neuroscientists agree that head trauma can cause and/or exacerbate
Parkinson's.
Todd Sherer, who holds a Ph.D in neuroscience, said a 2006 study published
in Annals of Neurology helped establish that risk. In the study, a team led by
Dr. Samuel Goldman, of the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical Center in Sunnyvale,
California, followed the cases of 93 pairs of twins in which only one of each had
Parkinson’s.
Those who had sustained at least one head injury were more likely than their
twin to have a later diagnosis of Parkinson’s, and the likelihood increased in
those with more than one head injury.
I'd agree with Xavier, who wrote, "playing the clown [...] fell right into his mental
deterioration". It was a convenient cover up for Ali who obviously understood
what a massive hit a diagnosis of Parkinson's would be to the massive ego he
displayed to the public.
From "the greatest" to a dribbling, incoherent simpleton, and a premature death.
You're right:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2782754August 2, 2021
Professional Soccer and Dementia Risk—The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game
While an increased risk for late-life neurodegenerative disease and dementia has consistently been observed in professional athletes with very high exposure to repetitive head impacts, such as former professional boxers and US football players, much less is known about neurologic outcomes in sports with lower head trauma exposure. Soccer, known to most of the world as football, is by far the most popular sport globally, with an estimated 270 million active players worldwide.1 The Brazilian superstar Pelé famously referred to soccer as “the beautiful game,” inspired by the fancy footwork and orchestral movement displayed by footballers at the highest level. However, heading the ball (known as headers) is also an integral part of the game, and additional incidental head impacts occur via collisions with other players or the ground. A 2017 summit on head injury in soccer concluded that the frequency of headers increases from the youth level to the professional level.2 Both overall header exposure and the force of impact generated by headers were deemed relatively low but with considerable individual variability.
Linear forces generated by heading the ball can range from as low as 5g to as high as 60g. Studies have inconsistently detected acute and chronic sequelae of soccer headers,3 with some studies reporting associations between more frequent headers, worse cognitive test performance, and compromised white matter integrity on magnetic resonance imaging.4
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