Helmets could increase brain injuries in sport, warns 'Concussion' doctor

Rugby and football players could be at greater risk of developing dementia from head injuries if they wore helmets, a leading doctor has claimed.

Dr Julian Bailes, whose research on brain injuries helped prove a link between head traumas and dementia in American NFL players, suggested British teams were safer because their heads were unprotected.

Dr Bailes, chairman of neurosurgery at the NorthShore Neurological Institute in Evanston, Illionois, who is currently being portrayed by Alec Baldwin in the new Hollywood film Concussion, told a briefing in London: “The head initiates contact and sloshes inside the brain, and causes micro-bleeding, so the helmet increases the risk.

“It would be very rare for a non-helmeted sport to hit head to head, cranium to cranium, but that is what is happening in modern play in the NFL. We think it is surprisingly part of the problem in a way.”

A recent study by the University of Bath suggested that cyclists were also safer without helmets because drivers stay further away from them on the road if they are bare-headed.

Health experts are increasingly concerned that people who take part in contact sports could contract dementia through ‘Chronic traumatic encephalopathy.’

The disorder is marked by long-term, progressive brain damage leading to Alzheimer's-like symptoms of confusion and dementia that may only surface years after the initial trauma.

Players from the Saracens rugby club are currently taking part in a research project with University College London to look for biomarkers that indicate a risk of long-term brain damage.

If the molecules are found they could form the basis of a test to identify individuals who need help even if they appear healthy - bringing in to question their fitness to play.

Clinical neuroscientist Professor Huw Morris, from University College London, who is co-leading the Saracens research, said: "What we're doing is taking biosamples from players. They're donating blood, urine and saliva samples at the start of the season, and then we're following players up.

"We'll be able to build up a biochemical profile of what happens to people during normal rugby games, when they're getting muscle impacts and so forth, but also to people having head injuries during games."

He added: "The aim is to have something that is an adjunct to a medical test."

Players would also wear accelerometer "patches" to measure the forces on their bodies, and video footage of games would be analysed to spot potentially dangerous moves.

The ultimate goal was to find a way to identify at-risk individuals and guide rule changes that make aggressive contact sports such as rugby safer, said Prof Morris.

Currently there is no way of telling when athletes who have not been knocked out or shown symptoms of dizziness, nausea and memory loss might be likely to suffer long-term brain damage.

Many ex-boxers once dismissed as "punch drunk" as a result of repeated blows they received in the ring are believed to be suffering from CTE.

The Saracens project is funded by The Drake Foundation.