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Risk of MND to top rugby players is 15 times higher

By Jeremy Wilson CHIEF SPORTS REPORTER

Former international rugby union players are 15 times more likely to suffer the devastating impact of motor neurone disease than the general public, according to landmark research, which has sparked calls for drastic changes to the sport.

The study, conducted by the University of Glasgow, compared the health outcomes of more than 400 former Scotland internationals, largely from the amateur era, and also found that they were twice as likely to develop dementia and three times more likely to suffer Parkinson’s disease.

It was the findings in relation to MND, however, which were described by researchers as the “standout high risk”.

A series of rugby heroes, notably Scotland’s Doddie Weir, South Africa’s World Cup winner Joost van der Westhuizen and former Gloucester forward Ed Slater, have been diagnosed with MND, but this is the first peer-reviewed study which makes a direct link to rugby’s heightened risk. It also reinforces the findings of similar studies in other sports where there are repeated head impacts, notably professional football and American football.

Former players were found to be around four times more likely to suffer MND in these two sports. The study, which has been published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, was led by Prof Willie Stewart, the neuropathologist who also proved football’s link to neurodegenerative disease.

Stewart stressed that the former players who had been studied had predominantly played in the era before professionalisation in 1995 and, with head impacts and injuries having further increased in the past 27 years, urged immediate measures to mitigate the risks.

“Contact training during the week, during the competition season, should be pretty much a thing of the past,” Stewart said. “At the same time, look at the number of matches that are being played – is it credible that young men and young women are playing week-in, weekout for the majority of the year just for entertainment? Is there a way we can trim back?

“I am genuinely really concerned about what’s happening in the modern game [and] whether in 20 years’ time, if we repeat the study, we may see something which is even more concerning. Those conversations have been going on a while, and the pace of progress is pretty slow. This stimulus to them [is] to really pick up their heels and start making

pretty dramatic changes as quickly as possible to try to reduce risk.

“Instead of talking about extending seasons, and introducing new competitions and global seasons, they should maybe talk about restricting it. Getting rid of as much training as possible.

“I know it is tough to think about less rugby than more, but maybe less is more.

“You can’t continue to put young men and women through what they are being put through now we know that, from the amateur era, there is this risk of degenerative brain disease.” Stewart, who was an amateur rugby player, also outlined the benefits of sport and suggested that non-contact forms of the game may become increasingly commonplace.

Following a similar method to their football study, researchers examined the medical records of former international rugby players in Scotland and matched them with people of the same age, gender and socioeconomic background in the wider population.

They then compared their health outcomes over an average of 30 years, with people from the study all born between 1900 and 1990.

Although the former rugby players did on average live slightly longer (79 years compared to 76.5 years), the overall neurodegenerative disease risk increase was 267 per cent, a figure described by Stewart as “much higher than we would expect to see from the general population”. He stressed that the data was set in the context of their wider work in sport, which includes brain autopsies that have shown chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a type of dementia associated with head impacts, in 80 per cent of the former rugby players they have examined. “The story we are getting from all of our evidence is that exposure to head impacts is a risk, and it is a risk we need to do something about,” he added.

Dr Eanna Falvey, World Rugby’s chief medical officer, said that it welcomed the call for more research and stressed that it had established an independent concussion working group to consider the latest evidence.

“This enables us to have a constant and open conversation about what changes to the game may be appropriate,” said Falvey, who added that the governing body had invested more than €10million (£8.7million) in welfare studies.

“We will continue to build on this work in our quest to make our game as safe as it can possibly be for players at all levels within the rugby family,” he added.

Researchers are now calling for urgent similar studies across the world. Scottish Rugby’s chief medical officer Dr James Robson said that the study would inform continued “proactive” improvement in player welfare. “Rugby continues to have many health and social benefits. Important research like this can help us continue to improve safety and mitigate risks associated with contact sport,” he said.

Head for Change, the brain injury charity whose founders include Alix Popham, the former Wales international who is part of a legal action against World Rugby, said that the connection between repetitive head impacts and neurodegenerative disease was “increasingly irrefutable”.

The charity called for “a precautionary approach to reduce and manage this risk exposure from head impacts”, adding: “Now is the time for action. Prevent players from becoming victims.”

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2022-10-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-05T07:00:00.0000000Z

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