Where does rugby stand?
A SURVEY LAST year found that nearly two-thirds of adults who play the game and/or have children who do are concerned about the sport’s long-term effects on brain health. That’s why it’s so important to understand what the game is doing to try to make rugby safer and find out more about brain injuries…
RESEARCH PROJECTS
There is still a lot we don’t know about the brain, which is why research is vital. The Drake Foundation is committed to improving understanding in this area. The not-for-profit organisation funds research into head injuries, with particular focus on those suffered in sport, and last year published the results of two studies at different ends of the rugby spectrum.
One looked at retired players who played before the professional era and another involved current elite players. The BRAIN Study found that there was no difference in cognitive function before the age of 75 between players in the pre-professional era with three or more concussions and those with fewer. It found that there was no overall group association between the number of concussions and worse cognitive function, although in the over-75s age bracket 29% of those who had suffered three or more rugby-related concussions did have worse cognitive function.
“We don’t know the reason, so it answers some questions but raises others,” says Lauren Pulling, CEO of the Drake Foundation. “What we do know is the game has become a lot tougher in recent years. Players are bigger, when they’re colliding there is more power, and there is a higher instance
