CLOSE
  • Home
  • World
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
    • Economy & Politics
    • Finance
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion & Style
  • Health
  • Science & Technology
  • Social
    • Education
    • Home & Garden
    • How To…
    • Sports
    • Travel
Belle News
Belle News
  • Home
  • World
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
    • Economy & Politics
    • Finance
  • Entertainment
  • Fashion & Style
  • Health
  • Science & Technology
  • Social
    • Education
    • Home & Garden
    • How To…
    • Sports
    • Travel
Home Tags Posts tagged with "balance control"

balance control

Heading Ball Too Often May Affect Balance Control

  • Health
  • Sports
Jul 15, 2018
0

Image source Wikipedia

Soccer heading may cause balance problems, according to a preliminary study, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s Sports Concussion Conference in Indianapolis July 20 to 22, 2018. 

“Soccer headers are repetitive subconcussive head impacts that may be associated with problems with thinking and memory skills and structural changes in the white matter of the brain,” said study author John Jeka, PhD, of the University of Delaware in Newark, Del. “But the effect of headers on balance control has not been studied.” 

Twenty amateur soccer players, 10 females and 10 males, with an average age of 22, participated in the study. They were asked how many times they headed the ball in the past year. The number of headers over a year for each participant ranged from 16 to 2,100, with an average of 451 headers. 

For the balance test the players had to walk along a foam walkway with their eyes closed. There were two conditions: with galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) and without GVS. The stimulator acts on the nerves that send messages from the balance system in the inner ear to the brain, thus it can make you feel like you are moving although you are not.  

The results showed that players with the largest number of headers had vestibular processing and balance recovery problems.  

“Soccer players must have good balance to play the game well, yet our research suggests that headers may be undermining balance, which is key to all movement, and yet another problem now linked to headers,” said study author Fernando V. Santos, PT, of the University of Delaware. “It is important that additional research be done to look more closely at this possible link with balance and to confirm our findings in larger groups of people.” 

However, the study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, is limited by the fact that the participants relied on memory when reporting how many times they headed the ball.  

Earlier this year, in Frontiers in Neurology, was released a study that involved 308 amateur soccer players ranging in age from 18 to 55. 

Researchers found that the players who headed the ball most often had lower performance on tests of psychomotor speed, attention and memory, but accidental head impacts did not influence cognitive test performance. 

“The focus in terms of head injury in sports has really been on concussions and recognized symptomatic impacts to the head, typically due to players colliding with each other or falling down,” said lead author Dr. Michael Lipton of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of New York City.  

In fact, the small, but repetitive impacts may cause long-term damage to the brain.  

“I think that’s really the key message – that impacts to the head matter even when, at the individual impact level, they may not seem to be causing an immediate problem.”  

“What we’re really looking at here is something that is a subclinical effect and the open question, which remains to be answered by more research, is how much of this does it take to cause a permanent effect? And that’s not known yet,” Dr. Michael Lipton said.  

Yet, this study had the same limitation, the memory of the soccer players.  

“As a researcher who has published in this area and as a long-time soccer player who played in college and continues to play as an adult, I know first-hand that most players do not accurately recall heading exposure. Most likely, players over estimated their exposure to heading and lifetime head injuries,” said Anthony Kontos, research director for the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Whether or not heading the ball may cause long-term damage to the brain still remains a question. However, brain is a delicate structure and it is better to stay on the safe side. Children under 11 have already been banned from heading in the United States since 2016, and UEFA may take the same measure. 

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
Belle News
Interesting Articles
  • Boardwalk Empire to end after Season 5

    Boardwalk Empire to end after Season 5

    Boardwalk Empire is to end after its upcoming fifth season, HBO has announced. The decision comes three months after HBO …Read More »
  • Nike’s Boston Massacre T-shirts removed from shelves following Boston Marathon attack

    Nike’s Boston Massacre T-shirts removed from shelves following Boston Marathon attack

    Nike has decided to remove its T-shirts emblazoned with “Boston Massacre” from shelves after outcry over their insensitivity in the …Read More »
  • Banco Espirito Santo reports $4.8 billion loss for first six months of 2014

    Banco Espirito Santo reports $4.8 billion loss for first six months of 2014

    Portuguese bank Banco Espirito Santo (BES) has reported a bigger-than-expected loss of 3.6 billion euros ($4.8 billion) for the first …Read More »
  • Megyn Kelly puts Erick Erickson and Lou Dobbs in their place after sexist comments about women breadwinners

    Megyn Kelly puts Erick Erickson and Lou Dobbs in their place after sexist comments about women breadwinners

    Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly entered into a debate on working mothers this past Friday. An argument broke out when …Read More »
  • Somali and AU troops enter port of Kismayo

    Somali and AU troops enter port of Kismayo

    The first Somali government and African Union (AU) troops are reported to have entered the strategic Somali port of Kismayo, …Read More »
Recent Articles
  • Joe Biden Inauguration: Capitol Put on Lockdown After Security Alert

    Joe Biden Inauguration: Capitol Put on Lockdown After Security Alert

    The Capitol complex in Washington DC was briefly locked down after a security alert, two days before Joe Biden’s inauguration. …Read More »
  • Alexei Navalny Detained After Flying Back to Russia

    Alexei Navalny Detained After Flying Back to Russia

    Alexei Navalny has been detained after flying back to Russia five months after he was nearly killed by a nerve …Read More »
  • Joe Biden to Issue Decrees to Reverse Trump’s Policies

    Joe Biden to Issue Decrees to Reverse Trump’s Policies

    According to recent reports, President-elect Joe Biden will issue decrees to reverse President Donald Trump’s travel bans and re-join the …Read More »
  • Joe Biden New POTUS Twitter Account Starts with No Trump Followers

    Joe Biden New POTUS Twitter Account Starts with No Trump Followers

    President-elect Joe Biden has been given his new official POTUS Twitter account, but has been forced to start it with …Read More »
  • North Korea Shows Off New Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile

    North Korea Shows Off New Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile

    North Korea has unveiled a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, described by state media as “the world’s most powerful weapon”. According …Read More »
  • Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez to Perform at Joe Biden’s Inauguration

    Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez to Perform at Joe Biden’s Inauguration

    Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez are to perform at the inauguration ceremony for President Joe Biden. It is well-known that …Read More »
  • Trump Becomes First Sitting President to Be Impeached Twice

    Trump Becomes First Sitting President to Be Impeached Twice

    Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has signed the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Donald Trump has become …Read More »
  • Lisa Montgomery: US Government Carries Out Its First Execution of A Female Inmate Since 1953

    Lisa Montgomery: US Government Carries Out Its First Execution of A Female Inmate Since 1953

    Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row in the US, has been executed for murder. She received a …Read More »
  • Trump’s YouTube Channel Suspended

    Trump’s YouTube Channel Suspended

    Google-owned video service YouTube has become the latest platform to suspend President Donald Trump’s account. YouTube has prevented the president’s …Read More »
  • FBI Warns of Possible Armed Protests Before Joe Biden’s Inauguration

    FBI Warns of Possible Armed Protests Before Joe Biden’s Inauguration

    The FBI has warned of possible armed protests across the US as Trump supporters and far-right groups call for demonstrations …Read More »
ADVERTISE ON BELLENEWS.COM
Advertise on BelleNews.com
Current News
  • Joe Biden Inauguration: Capitol Put on Lockdown After Security Alert
  • Alexei Navalny Detained After Flying Back to Russia
  • Joe Biden to Issue Decrees to Reverse Trump’s Policies
  • Joe Biden New POTUS Twitter Account Starts with No Trump Followers
  • North Korea Shows Off New Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile
January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    
© 2019 BelleNews.com
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Sitemap
  • DMCA Policy
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy.
Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.