Boxers warned of ‘dangerous illusion’

Press, 30 November 1982, Page 38

Boxers warned of ‘dangerous illusion’

NZPA London Boxers were warned yesterday that it was a dangerous illusion to suppose that medical supervision would prevent them suffering brain damage. An article in the British journal of the medical profession, the “Lancet,” reported doctors who performed tests on 14 boxing champions as saying the only way to prevent brain damage was to disqualify blows to the head. The tests were done on a group of amateur and professional boxers in Finland, all

of whom had been at least national champions. Some had also been Scandinavian champions and one had been a European champion. The doctors, from Helsinki University, found evidence of brain injury in five of the six professionals and in four of the eight amateurs. They said that although only the oldest boxer had dysfunctions that affected his normal daily living and social relations, the second oldest had already had episodes of inappropriate behaviour which were attributed to his boxing career. Over all, the boxers were quite young, and even those

who were not aware of any symptoms of brain damage at present were at risk of developing symptoms later. Writing in the “Lancet," the doctors said: “It seems very wrong that the most predictable and permanent reward for these sportsmen is chronic brain damage. “Although modern medical control can probably prevent most of the punishment, at least in amateur rings, it is an illusion to suppose that any kind of medical supervision could prevent brain damage while boxers go on hitting each other .on the head.”