Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Italy

[Levin]

I was amazed by this article in todays Guardian. A sizeable chunk of a generation of football players has come down with Lou Gehrig's disease and no one knows why.

I guess it's the sort of thing that a country's FA will only investigate when their players are affected.

[ursus arctos]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Italy

We've touched on this on some of the Serie A threads.

It is an absolute tragedy, and one that raises very significant questions about just what kind of "training methods" were used here in the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

Borgonovo is by some distance the most prominent player to have been stricken to date, but as you note, he is by no means the only one.

[pawlu]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Italy

The thing is that the disease is a combination of factors. For instance, no goalkeepers have ever been diagnosed with it and it seems to hit more the hardworking midfielder type.

[ursus arctos]

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Italy

Indeed, the causal context is extremely complex, and seems to involve a combination of genetic predisposition, "high workrate" overexertion on the pitch (which some researchers think may reduce immune response), frequent heading of the ball and such wild cards as possible exposure to particular pesticides that were used by certain clubs on their pitches to more obvious kinds of doping.

The Borgonovo story has led to a real uptick in donations for football-specific research, and one hopes that the work that is funded thereby will help us understand just what we are dealing with.