The spectre of medico legal potential makes me extremely wary of where this study is leading. It almost invites legal query into sports where head injury is a possibility, though as you point out no gold standard research is available, or will ever be.
Sure, but the standard of research put out above is, or makes a very good case to be, equivalent to the standard used to prove smoking causes lung cancer. In other words, there is never any way to be 100% sure but the research is certainly compelling.
My main issue with it is the research conflates any and all RHI/sports together. There is no way that a footballer gets RHIs with anywhere near the intensity or frequency of an American football player. There is mention of a correlation in intensity/volume but the study still essentially equates any contact sport.
Hey I know the games already fucked up anyway so let’s find other ways to really take the enjoyment away from fans.
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" Two studies have provided a window into absolute risk in one highly exposed population, NFL players. In 2017, the Boston University CTE Center published that of the first 111 brains donated from former NFL players, 110 of them had CTE. Using those 110 subjects with CTE as the numerator, and the 1,142 NFL players who died during the study period (February 2008–May 2016) as the denominator, Binney and Bachynski concluded the minimum prevalence of CTE is 9.6% among NFL players (50). Alternatively, Finkel and Bieniek (51) selected for their denominator the 711 players who entered the NFL between 1963 and 2008 and died by June 2014, concluding a 15.5% prevalence was an accurate snapshot of the current prevalence of death with CTE among all NFL players who had already died of any cause."
that’s an insanely high number. 110 of the 111 donated ex-NFL brains examined in that study had Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)
and then this.
Another example of coherence is found in the extreme difference between the number of known CTE cases among males and females. Bieniek et al. studied 750 brains of athletes and non-athletes, and identified 21 cases of CTE, all in males (43). Their experience is consistent with the experience of all other brain banks: while hundreds of male football players have been confirmed to have CTE by Dr. Ann McKee at the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank alone, CTE has yet to be diagnosed in a female athlete worldwide ([81](Frontiers | Applying the Bradford Hill Criteria for Causation to Repetitive Head Impacts and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy)).
Having headed footballs from a young age, I can understand the connection for older generation players.
If you didn’t head those soaking wet leather balls correctly, it was like whiplash at 30 mph.
I don’t see the modern balls causing the same issues, but obviously can’t back that up with any kind of certainty.
I’ve seen close up the effects of vascular dementia, it’s heart breaking, horrible condition to go through or see loved ones go through.
On smoking, I had a partial amputation of a finger in a work accident in the 90’s.
Prior to having it operated on, I told the nurse I was going outside for a quick smoke.
He said I can’t allow that, as it’s a medical fact that healing takes linger in smokers.
I said listen mate, I’ve smoked for 20 years, one more isn’t making a blind bit of difference, back in 10 minutes.
The games gone, can’t even watch the lads head the ball on certain days in training anymore 
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Ok.
World Cup 2030
There will be no heading the football.
Get videos of South Koreas beautiful second goal yesterday (sent to me by my mate)…
A thing of beauty that will soon be outlawed in the game.