BoxRec

You consider the effects boxing had on Ali, Frazier and many others and yet Chuvalo had 93 fights against the likes of Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Quarry , Ellis, Cleveland Williams, Buster Mathis , some terrific hitters in there, as well as a host of other heavyweights. I'm not even considering the hours of sparring in a career extending over 20 years and yet according to any recent interview I've heard him giving and from people who've met him he seems to be unaffected. Why do some people suffer and others don't ???

A friend of mine now a GP in Bristol used to play rugby at a very high level while studying to be a doctor. He took a year out to do a project on concussion. After completing his research he immediately gave up his rugby career. He found that some of his fellow players, after only one concussive event , and in their mid twenties, were slow to respond to some things at their work and were taking longer to remember things.

Of course not everybody is the same and I know boxers who had long careers , and tough careers , who have a memory Einstein would have been proud of.

Its incredible really.

Same for LaMotta. Just luck and genetics i guess, same way some footballers never recover from ligament damage and others do. Saying that Chuvalo did say he used to block and roll with a lot of punches and didn't take as many flush ones as people thought he did. He also says he had a big head, thick skull and short fat neck. Either way Chuvalo was one tough dude

Im no neurologist but I understand that people can lose functionality of their brains following trauma, but that they can "re learn" other parts of the brain to carry out tasks in the same manner that they did before to a certain extent.

There are something like 6 parts to the brain, the frontal, the limbic, the cerebellum etc and each has a different role.

My guess is that they are probably wired different or the brain fills their skulls better so didn't shake as much to cause the scarring / damage that has affected so many people.

when brain cells die they don't recover, unlike other areas in the human body. so there lies the problem, everytime you get hit hard it damages the brain, and it cant recover. same with some footballers who spent their early life heading a heavily laced ball, jeff astle I do believe deteriorated due to this.

G0mez wrote:Im no neurologist but I understand that people can lose functionality of their brains following trauma, but that they can "re learn" other parts of the brain to carry out tasks in the same manner that they did before to a certain extent.

There are something like 6 parts to the brain, the frontal, the limbic, the cerebellum etc and each has a different role.

My guess is that they are probably wired different or the brain fills their skulls better so didn't shake as much to cause the scarring / damage that has affected so many people.

Don't you go and try to rewire the kitchen, 'wired different' Some people have thicker skulls, some have stronger necks and jaws and others have a thicker band of muscle across their temple (Marvin Hagler had a noticably and measurably thicker muscle).

rhino222 wrote:when brain cells die they don't recover, unlike other areas in the human body. so there lies the problem, everytime you get hit hard it damages the brain, and it cant recover. same with some footballers who spent their early life heading a heavily laced ball, jeff astle I do believe deteriorated due to this.

I thought brain cells reproduced up to mid thirties?

Final round wrote:

rhino222 wrote:when brain cells die they don't recover, unlike other areas in the human body. so there lies the problem, everytime you get hit hard it damages the brain, and it cant recover. same with some footballers who spent their early life heading a heavily laced ball, jeff astle I do believe deteriorated due to this.

I thought brain cells reproduced up to mid thirties?

No, brain cells (neurons) don't regenerate.

palooka wrote:

Final round wrote:

rhino222 wrote:when brain cells die they don't recover, unlike other areas in the human body. so there lies the problem, everytime you get hit hard it damages the brain, and it cant recover. same with some footballers who spent their early life heading a heavily laced ball, jeff astle I do believe deteriorated due to this.

I thought brain cells reproduced up to mid thirties?

No, brain cells (neurons) don't regenerate.

Shit..

but you probably won't remember that

palooka wrote: but you probably won't remember that

What were we talking about? Beautiful day..

Why do some people have Alzheimer and others do not - huge evidence to suggest that there is a genetic element with the E4 variant of Apolipoprotein a huge risk factor for AD..... evidence is there also for people who have suffered dementia as a result of trauma.

So the question is..... does boxing etc bring on dementia in people who are more at risk of AD anyway.... might even ask the question (the nay sayers anyway) should boxers with the E4 variant be licensed?