Dementia and Football, Mansfield Town away

Football and dementia; are issues currently in the public eye due to Alan Shearer’s documentary, which aired last week. The FA have finally got round announcing that they are launching a study to see if there is a link between heading a football and suffering from dementia in later life.

We are all aware what is happening to Ernie Moss, former Mansfield player Kevin Bird is also suffering from a form of dementia, as are many others highlighted in Alan Shearer’s show. Football fans will of course say that this is something we have known all along, but science doesn’t work like that, things have to be proven in clinical tests.

For those reasons I’d like to highlight the great work undertaken by charity walkers who made it from the Proact to Field Mill on Saturday, organised by Mansfield supporter Mick Edge who raised money for Alzheimer’s and also Guide Dogs for The Blind.

Many people may ask why is there no known cure for Alzheimer’s, well science hasn’t got there yet, but it could do, if there’s enough money put into clinical trials and many think that’s where football could step in, football clearly isn’t short of money.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE MY REPORT ON THE UNIVERSITY OF LANCASTER's BREAKTHROUGH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoE3I7qok8E&t=51s&list=PL5q5VCSdVadco-SccARdmKqP5dDrCf_pX&index=29


The University Of Lancaster under the leadership of Professor David Allsop and his team has actually developed a compound which they are confident will stop the onset of Alzheimers.
This compound can’t reverse the condition, but it is hoped it can stop things getting worse. However what is needed is money, in order start clinical trials on people who are in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, once the clinical trials are proven, then a drug could be made. How does that work? Well that’s where drug companies have to step in and decide to manufacture such a thing and put it on the market. It’s a long and costly process. Governments tend not to fund drug research it’s usually down to the private sector to do that.
There are many forms of dementia and Alzheimer’s is one of the major types that we know about, so this research is not a “cure all” but certainly a step in the right direction.

Defying Dementia http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/defyingdementia are slowly raising funds for what they hope will be a medical breakthrough which could help everyone, but they need £1-2 million pounds to even start getting clinical trials underway.

So where could that sort of cash be generated?
A fraction of the gate money from an England match, perhaps? The PFA sticking its hand in it’s pocket? A bit of spare change from a Premier League team, maybe? Football should take the lead, we really shouldn’t have to rely on blokes like Mick and his charity walk.