Sports and health: equivalence or contrariety.

Playing sports is a widely known method of health promotion. Balanced exercise and diet are keys to healthy life. However, sports activities can cause different injuries, from joint to head injuries. Although head injuries cause a variety of acute and chronic disorders, they are often undertreated. There are 1.6 million injured people examined at emergency departments throughout Europe every year. In sports like boxing, football, soccer, hockey, handball, basketball and bicycling, head injuries occur at a frequency of 4% to 22%. Particularly significant are chronic difficulties that occur after recurrent head injuries, i.e. cognitive deficits and changes in electroencephalogram. Qualifications of professional personnel are insufficient for professional evaluation and treatment of head injuries. The best way for sports to become an important link in health and disease prevention is to go back to sports basics while using acquired scientific knowledge.