Study investigates possible link between head injury and MND

The results of a research study published in October 2007 suggest that a history of head injury may increase a person’s risk of getting MND.

An American research group asked 109 people with ALS (the most common type of MND type of MND) and 255 people unaffected by the disease about injuries they had suffered to any part of their body that were serious enough to require medical attention. The researchers also reviewed the findings of other similar investigations.

The study concluded that injury to parts of the body other than the head did not increase the risk of ALS. However, having experienced a relatively serious head injury at any time was associated with a slightly higher risk of the disease. In particular, those who had experienced more than one head injury appeared to be about three times more likely to have ALS. A head injury that occurred less than ten years prior to a person being diagnosed with ALS also seemed to have contributed to a threefold increase in their chances of getting the disease.

Further work needed

The investigators stress that their findings were based on a relatively small number of cases, so the possibility of an association between head injury and ALS will need to be confirmed by further, larger studies. It is also important to remember that MND is rare and that the chances of getting it are still small, even amongst those who have experienced head injury. If a more definite link between head injury and MND is established in the future, this will still be just one of many cumulative risk factors that all have to be present to trigger the illness.

The football connection?

Previous research has indicated that footballers may be at increased risk of MND, including a 2005 study of Italian professional football players. Head trauma from repeated heading of the ball has been suggested as a possible contributory factor, although some neurologists and researchers dispute this.