It has become clear that impact sports like football and boxing can cause long-term brain damage. Now soccer is coming under scrutiny. As evidence mounts that excessively heading a soccer ball can injure a player’s brain, professional players such as Brandi Chastain, a star of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, are using this year’s tournament to call attention to the health risks facing young players. To learn about the latest science on soccer heading and brain injuries, Scientific American spoke to Robert Cantu, professor of neurosurgery at the Boston University School of Medicine and co-founder of the Sports Legacy Institute.
To read the original article: Does Heading a Soccer Ball Cause Brain Damage? - Scientific American
