Papers of the Week

Professional footballers commonly experience sports-related injury and repetitive microtrauma to the foot and ankle, placing them at risk of subsequent chronic pain and osteoarthritis (OA) of the foot and ankle. Similarly, repeated heading of the ball, head/neck injuries and concussion have been implicated in later development of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. A recent retrospective study found that death from neurodegenerative diseases was higher among former professional soccer players compared with age matched controls. However, well-designed lifetime studies are still needed to provide evidence regarding the prevalence of these conditions and their associated risk factors in retired professional football players compared with the general male population.