Cuts and bruises are the most common boxing injuries, and many boxers leave the ring needing stitches to the face and dental work. Body blows can lead to broken ribs and internal bleeding. Potentially blinding eye injuries can occur but may be difficult to detect except by specialist examination.
Although many injuries occur, boxing accounts for fewer deaths than many other sports, but the British Medical Association (BMA) says this is insignificant compared to the effects of brain damage that may go unrecorded in many boxers.
As boxing involves powerful people hitting each other repeatedly, often around the head, there are significant risks of head injury. Most serious of all is a risk of permanent severe brain damage. According to brain surgeons, over 80 per cent of professional boxers have serious brain scarring on MRI scans. The evidence for harm or cumulative brain damage to amateur boxers is less clear.
Other research has shown that a chemical called neurofilament light or NFL, which is released when nerve cells are damaged, is four times higher than normal in boxers after a fight and up to eight times higher when there have been more than 15 high-impact hits to the head. It takes about three months for levels to return to normal after a fight.
While other injuries repair relatively easily, brain tissue, once damaged, remains damaged. The symptoms of such brain damage - commonly known as being 'punch drunk' - include slurred speech, slow reactions and even occasional blackouts (‘chronic traumatic encephalopathy’). These symptoms may take years to appear – on average about 16 years after taking up boxing, but sometimes as later as 40 years, long after the boxer has retired from the sport.
The BMA, which represents 84 per cent of the UK's doctors, opposes boxing primarily because of the threat to the brain and eyes.
Doctors who support boxing say the risk of serious injury is low if proper medical care is available at the ring. Michael Watson's High Court claim centred on whether better treatment early on would have prevented the serious damage he sustained. Certainly ringside medical care has improved since then.
However, having a specialist in resuscitation and brain damage at the ring can’t prevent a head injury occurring in the first place and Paul Ingles, seriously injured after a fight in 2000, sustained serious brain injuries despite immediate ring side treatment, and is permanently disabled as a result.
In 1995 the British Board of Boxing Control introduced a raft of measures to improve safety.
One was the introduction of annual MRI brain scans for boxers, and the minimum length of time between fights for boxers who suffered a knockout was extended from 28 to 45 days.
However, the BMA's concern remains with head injuries.
For the moment it continues to lobby for a total ban on boxing for men or women.
Professor Hugh Bayne, from Sunderland University, has examined the case law surrounding boxing and suggested a way to get the sport as good as banned. He wrote in the British Medical Journal that doctors could make boxing illegal in the UK simply by withdrawing their support and refusing to attend bouts. He pointed out medical cover is a legal requirement at all boxing promotions and, given the dangers associated with the sport, asked if the profession should withdraw its co-operation.
Although many injuries occur, boxing accounts for fewer deaths than many other sports, but the British Medical Association (BMA) says this is insignificant compared to the effects of brain damage that may go unrecorded in many boxers.
As boxing involves powerful people hitting each other repeatedly, often around the head, there are significant risks of head injury. Most serious of all is a risk of permanent severe brain damage. According to brain surgeons, over 80 per cent of professional boxers have serious brain scarring on MRI scans. The evidence for harm or cumulative brain damage to amateur boxers is less clear.
Other research has shown that a chemical called neurofilament light or NFL, which is released when nerve cells are damaged, is four times higher than normal in boxers after a fight and up to eight times higher when there have been more than 15 high-impact hits to the head. It takes about three months for levels to return to normal after a fight.
While other injuries repair relatively easily, brain tissue, once damaged, remains damaged. The symptoms of such brain damage - commonly known as being 'punch drunk' - include slurred speech, slow reactions and even occasional blackouts (‘chronic traumatic encephalopathy’). These symptoms may take years to appear – on average about 16 years after taking up boxing, but sometimes as later as 40 years, long after the boxer has retired from the sport.
The BMA, which represents 84 per cent of the UK's doctors, opposes boxing primarily because of the threat to the brain and eyes.
What impact do boxing-related brain injuries have?
Brain damage occurs in one of two ways:- Catastrophically, meaning it follows an injury sustained in a single bout. This was the case in boxer Michael Watson’s injury, when a blood vessel in the skull burst and a clot put pressure on the brain tissue. There is little doubt in these cases that the damage is a result of fighting. The injury may be rapidly fatal or cause long term disability.
- Gradually, meaning the brain damage builds up slowly as a result of repeated blows to the head. It can be less clear in this instance exactly how much brain damage is a result of boxing or due to other concurrent disease processes. For example, many people assume that the symptoms suffered by the world's most famous fighter, Muhammad Ali, were brought about by his numerous fights in the ring. But he is suffering from Parkinson's disease and there is only circumstantial evidence to suggest it was brought on by his boxing career, although the condition is more common in ex-fighters than the general public.
What help is there?
Some steps may help to make boxing safer such as using head guards or having shorter rounds, but there isn’t much evidence to show these really reduce the risk of injury.Doctors who support boxing say the risk of serious injury is low if proper medical care is available at the ring. Michael Watson's High Court claim centred on whether better treatment early on would have prevented the serious damage he sustained. Certainly ringside medical care has improved since then.
However, having a specialist in resuscitation and brain damage at the ring can’t prevent a head injury occurring in the first place and Paul Ingles, seriously injured after a fight in 2000, sustained serious brain injuries despite immediate ring side treatment, and is permanently disabled as a result.
In 1995 the British Board of Boxing Control introduced a raft of measures to improve safety.
One was the introduction of annual MRI brain scans for boxers, and the minimum length of time between fights for boxers who suffered a knockout was extended from 28 to 45 days.
However, the BMA's concern remains with head injuries.
For the moment it continues to lobby for a total ban on boxing for men or women.
Professor Hugh Bayne, from Sunderland University, has examined the case law surrounding boxing and suggested a way to get the sport as good as banned. He wrote in the British Medical Journal that doctors could make boxing illegal in the UK simply by withdrawing their support and refusing to attend bouts. He pointed out medical cover is a legal requirement at all boxing promotions and, given the dangers associated with the sport, asked if the profession should withdraw its co-operation.
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