The death in 2002 of the former England and West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle from degenerative brain disease placed the spotlight firmly on the possibility of a link between heading soccers and the risk of dementia. The coroner at the inquest ruled that Astle, 59, died from an “industrial disease” brought on by the repeated trauma of headers, and a later examination of Astle’s brain appeared to bear out this conclusion.
At that time there was sparse scientific data on the issue, but since then the balance of evidence has steadily tipped further in favor of a link. It has been shown that even single episodes of concussion can have lifelong consequences.
A 2016 study based on the health records of more than 100,000 people in Sweden found that after a single diagnosed concussion people were more likely to have mental health problems and less likely to graduate from high school and college. Other research has shown that people in prison or homeless are more likely to have had a past experience of concussion.
Photo: AP
照片:美聯社
In 2017, researchers from University College London examined postmortem the brains of six former soccer players who had developed dementia. They found signs of brain injury called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in four cases.
Last year a study by a team at Glasgow University found that former professional soccer players were three and a half times more likely to die from dementia and other serious neurological diseases. The study was the largest ever, based on the health records of 7,676 ex-players and 23,000 members of the public, and was possibly the trigger for the Scottish FA’s plan to follow US soccer in banning heading the ball for young players.
There is an open question about which element of soccer is responsible for the link. Clashes of heads leading to concussion or other factors cannot be ruled out. But according to Prof Michael Grey, who is leading a project on soccer and dementia at the University of East Anglia, heading the ball is the most obvious culprit. “The bigger issue really probably is these subconcussive injuries,” he said. “Repetitively heading the ball day after day, week after week, that’s what leads to the damage we see in ex-professionals.”
Grey said that since children have relatively larger heads and weaker necks, they are particularly at risk. “Just based on the pure mechanics, they’re going to have more damage,” he said.
Assuming that heading the ball is the culprit, another question is how exactly these repeated impacts make the brain more vulnerable. “There are lots of plausible explanations,” said Craig Ritchie, a professor of the psychiatry of aging at the University of Edinburgh. “Is it a buildup of proteins like tau in the brain, or amyloid? It could be inflammation, it could be blood flow, it could be a whole host of different things.”
Ritchie is collaborating with the Glasgow study team on a project aimed at gathering data to fill in this gap. They are hoping to track 100 ex-professional soccer players and 100 ex-rugby players, as well as hundreds of members of the public, over the coming decades. Participants will be given detailed brain scans, submit samples of cerebral spinal fluid and take part in cognitive tests.
Ritchie welcomed the Scottish FA’s move to ban under-12s heading the ball in training, saying that as well as being grounded in new scientific evidence, it may reflect a society that cares more about brain health than was the case 20 years ago. “It’s higher in people’s minds that there is this risk,” he said.
(The Guardian)
前英格蘭和西布朗維奇足球隊前鋒傑夫‧阿斯特爾二○○二年因退化性腦部疾病去世,將大眾的注意力聚焦於頭槌和失智症風險之間可能的關聯。當時調查死因的驗屍官判斷,享年五十九歲的阿斯特爾死於「職業傷害」,肇因於頭槌造成重複性的創傷,稍後阿斯特爾大腦的檢驗結果似乎也證實了這項結論。
當時關於這項議題的科學資料相當稀少,不過自從事件發生後,證據不斷地指向頭槌和失智症之間可能有所關聯。醫學案例顯示,就算是單次發作的腦震盪,也可能造成持續終生的後遺症。
二○一六年,一份以十萬多名瑞典人健康紀錄為基礎的研究發現,被診斷出發生單次腦震盪的患者,日後較有可能出現精神健康問題,也較不容易順利從高中和大學畢業。另一項研究顯示,入獄的囚犯或是街友過去較可能有過腦震盪的經歷。
二○一七年,倫敦大學學院的研究人員檢視了六件驗屍報告,對象皆是後來罹患失智症的前足球員。在其中的四個案例,研究人員都發現「慢性創傷性腦病變」這類腦損傷的跡象。
去年一組格拉斯哥大學團隊的研究指出,前職業足球員死於失智症和其他嚴重神經疾病的機率,比起一般人高出三點五倍。該份研究以七千六百七十六名前球員和兩萬三千名一般大眾的健康紀錄為基礎,堪稱史上最大規模,也因此可能是觸發蘇格蘭足球協會計畫跟進美國足球界,禁止年輕球員頭槌的導火線。
目前學界對於足球運動中,哪一項元素和失智症之間有關聯仍未有共識,也不能排除頭部相撞導致腦震盪和其他因素。不過,根據麥可‧葛雷教授的看法,用頭槌球是最明確的罪魁禍首。目前於東安格利亞大學主持足球和失智症研究的葛雷指出:「比較大的問題應該出在那些『亞腦震盪性撞擊』造成的傷害。」他表示:「重複性地用頭頂球,日復一日,週復一週,就導致我們現在看到那些前職業球員所受的腦部損傷。」
葛雷表示,因為孩童的頭部相對較大,而頸部相對脆弱,所以威脅特別嚴重。他指出:「純粹從力學的角度來看,孩童受到的傷害會更大。」
假定用頭槌球是真正的元凶,另一個問題則是:這樣重複的撞擊到底是如何讓大腦變得更為脆弱?愛丁堡大學的老年精神醫學教授克雷格‧黎奇表示:「這背後有許多看似合理的解釋。」例如,「有沒有可能是像Tau蛋白,或是類澱粉蛋白在大腦中累積的結果?有可能是發炎反應,或可能是血流量,也可能是一大群完全不一樣的因素導致。」
黎奇目前與格拉斯哥大學的研究團隊合作,目的是蒐集足夠資料以填補這個鴻溝。他們希望能在接下來的幾十年追蹤一百位前職業足球選手、一百位前橄欖球選手,以及數百名一般大眾。受試者將會進行精細的腦部掃描,繳交腦脊髓液樣本,並且參與認知測驗。
黎奇相當樂見蘇格蘭足球協會採取行動,禁止十二歲以下的孩童參加頭槌訓練,他指出,除了基於新的科學證據之外,這項措施也反映出一個比二十年前來得更關心腦部健康的社會。他說:「人們意識到這樣的風險存在,也因此提升關注的程度。」
(台北時報章厚明編譯)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang As with many aspects of Japanese culture, there is etiquette to follow when you enjoy noodles. To fully experience noodles like a local on your next visit to Japan, consider these simple guidelines. First, be careful where you put your chopsticks. Don’t leave them sticking up in the broth or set them at the side of the bowl. When you have finished eating or if you’re taking a break, place them on the chopstick rest next to the bowl. Also, it is impolite to wave chopsticks around or bring them above mouth-level. Second, don’t take too