Morphological Changes in Brains of Boxers

THE COUNCIL of the American Medical Association recently issued a report on brain damage in boxers.¹Better medical supervision and stricter regulations to control this dangerous sport were recommended. Similar calls for actions are usually heard whenever the news media get excited about a fatal knockout in the ring. We agree with the Council's recommendations but question the logic of proposing regulations aimed at preventing injury when the purpose of boxing is to inflict injury. The public enjoys paying for the spectacle, and for this reason boxers will continue battering each other with damaging force. Professional boxers are capable of delivering blows with forces that may exceed 100 gravity.²Such blows applied to the movable head cause the soft brain to glide and swirl within the skull, tearing vessels and nerve fibers. A variety of factors—notably the direction, intensity, velocity, and number of blows—determine the location, type, and