Can football cause dementia?

Recent research has shown that retired football players are five times as likely to get Alzheimer's disease. This is thought to be due to repeated heading of the ball causing damage to the brain over time.

Now scientists at UEA aim to discover if and when players begin to show very early signs of the disease, and how it progresses. They will do this by monitoring brain health as former professionals age; and this is the first study of its kind to investigate women as well as men. This project will also allow us to signpost those people with symptoms to specialists much earlier than would otherwise be possible. Although we cannot yet cure dementia, there are more treatment options if we can detect it early.

How does the research work?

Screening Cognitive Outcomes after Repetitive head impact Exposure in Sport - SCORES for short - is the name of our research project. UEA's health researchers use online brain assessments to monitor brain health in ex-pro football players; signs that are identifiable long before the classic signs of dementia, maybe even years earlier.

How will your support help?

Our goal is to raise £100,000 to help keep the study going, and £1 million to continue nationally for ten years. Your gift will go directly towards funding the equipment, the assessments, software development, and scientists' time needed to make this research possible.

The men and women ex-footballers involved in this study did not benefit from the salaries that footballers today enjoy, which is why we urgently need your support to continue this vital and impactful research. Please help our heroes of yesterday with a donation today.

For those who are interested in becoming more involved and helping towards the £1 million project, please contact us at giving@uea.ac.uk