Editor's letter: The tackles and the damage done

RICHARD Guilliatt’s cover story on head injuries in football explores the price players might be paying for their time on the paddock.

I NEVER thought I'd find myself quoting Donald Rumsfeld but his "known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns" seems to make perfect sense when applied to Richard Guilliatt's cover story on head injuries in football.

We know the brain is very fragile and that repeated knocks to the head are not good.

We know an impact to the head can cause concussion, a mysterious condition in its own right. But it’s unclear what long-term damage is caused by knocks to the head or punishing body tackles that shake the brain.

US research on dementia in gridiron players is raising awareness here but there’s a lack of evidence to definitively spell out the risks.

It’s worth taking heed of senior geriatric consultant Dr George Stathers, who is seeing “eminent” ex rugby league players presenting with early-onset dementia symptoms and Parkinson’s.

It’s only anecdotal but Stathers can’t be the only one wondering if these disorders are linked to his patients’ playing days.