ABSTRACT
The sporting world in a post COVID-19 environment will undergo meaningful changes to many aspects of its existence over the next few years. Structural changes to the sport, fan interaction, fan identity, economic impacts on the local communities, and various changes to the physical landscape, are all issues we are likely to see after sporting leagues resume "normal” operations. This chapter seeks to examine how the COVID-19 virus will impact sports from a geographic perspective. What does an overall structural change to a sport mean for local communities' economy and neighborhood identity? This project will offer a better understanding of the social, racial justice, and economic impacts felt at the local level by examining the English Premier league and NASCAR as barometers. This chapter will compare data collected prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 to data collected after, both datasets dealing with similar issues involved with the sports discussed here. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: To investigate the association and utility of blood plasma markers of neurodegeneration in a population of retired athletes self-reporting multiple concussions throughout a sporting career. It is hypothesised that this type of athletic history would cause an increased prevalence of neurodegenerative disease, as detected by biomarkers for neurodegenerative disease processes. Methods: One hundred and fifty-nine participants were recruited (90 males, 69 females, mean age 61.3±9.13 years), including 121 participants who had retired from playing professional or semiprofessional sports and self-reported ≥1 concussion during their careers (range 1-74; mean concussions=10.7). The control group included 38 age-matched and sex-matched controls, with no history of concussion. We measured neurofilament light (NfL) and tau (neurodegeneration markers), glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP) (astrocytic activation marker) and 40 and 42 amino acid-long amyloid beta (Aß40 and Aß42) (Alzheimer-associated amyloid pathology markers) concentrations using ultrasensitive single molecule array technology. Results: We found retired athletes reporting one or more concussions throughout an athletic career showed no significant changes in NfL, tau, GFAP and Aß40 and Aß42 concentrations in comparison to a control group. No correlations were found between biomarkers and number of concussions (mean=10.7). A moderate correlation was found between NfL concentration and age. Conclusion: No difference in blood concentrations of neurodegeneration markers NfL, tau, GFAP and Aß40 and Aß42 was found in retired athletes with a history of concussion compared with controls. An increased prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases is not detected by biomarkers in a population self-reporting multiple concussions. Trial registration number: ISRCTN 11312093.