Study finds link between amateur boxing and head trauma
Researchers in Sweden have discovered that Olympic boxing (amateur boxing) has the potential to cause nerve cell damage. Presented in the journal PLoS ONE, the findings substantiate what most researchers have thought for some time about how this sport is responsible for head trauma. Led by a group at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, in cooperation with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Linköping University as well as the Swedish Boxing Federation, the study has identified how Olympic boxers can display changes in brain fluids after bouts. This in turn signifies damage to the neurons. A total of 30 leading Swedish boxers and 25 reference persons took part in the study. The boxers competed on the top-level of local boxing and had participated in no less than 47 fights. No boxer lost a bout from a knockout, and only one boxer said they suffered from a headache, which was one of the symptoms. According to the researchers, repeated blows to the head in the boxing ring can enable brain injury markers to be released into the brain fluid. Such activity, they say, can be compared with other types of trauma to the head. They are also similar to neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. 'Our study shows that after bouts, some of the boxers had elevated concentrations of four different proteins in the brain fluid, which all signal damage to the brain's nerve cells,' says Sanna Neselius, a researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy and the lead author of the study. 'Moreover, two of the proteins were still elevated after a period of rest.' The data revealed that more than three quarters of the boxers exhibited protein changes that point to brain damage. 'The brain injury markers were elevated for 80% of the Olympic boxers directly after a bout as a result of minor brain damage,' Dr Neselius explains. 'That the brain fluid markers were elevated even after weeks of rest for some of the boxers can be interpreted as the damage had yet not healed or that some damage will remain. The Sahlgrenska researcher plans to meet with the board of directors of the Swedish Boxing Federation to discuss the findings of the study. 'We need to discuss the results and how we can increase the medical safety for boxers, both during training and in competition,' says Dr Neselius. 'I further hope that the results will be taken seriously by other martial arts federations, where the safety regulations are not as well defined as in boxing. The results may also be useful when discussing concussion guidelines.' She goes on to say the team favours finding a simple blood test that provides the same information as what the more advanced brain fluid tests offer, adding that 'the capability does not presently exist, but can perhaps become an option in the future with further and more extensive studies.' Dr Neselius has been boxing at the elite level and was ranked as one of the world's leading female boxers, both on the amateur and professional levels.For more information, please visit: Sahlgrenska Academy: http://www.sahlgrenska.gu.se/english(opens in new window) PLoS ONE: http://www.plosone.org/home.action(opens in new window)
Countries
Sweden