Professional footballers may be at an increased risk of dying from dementia. This emerges from a large-scale study, which appeared in the journal "NEJM".
Researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Hampden Sports Clinic examined the health history of 7676 men born between 1900 and 1976 who had played soccer professionally in Scotland. The data compared them to a control group of 23,028 peer men.
The most important results:
- In the 18-year study window, 15.4 percent of footballers and 16.5 percent of control persons died.
- The footballers had a lower risk of dying before the age of 70. Also, her risk of dying from lung cancer or heart disease was lower.
- However, footballers had a higher risk of dying from a so-called neurodegenerative disease. In addition to dementia, these include Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the disease CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) discussed in connection with American Football. In 1.7 percent of the deceased football players was a neurodegenerative disease, the main cause of death in the control group, this was the case in only half a percent of the deceased.
Who paid for it?
The study was funded by the English Football Federation FA and the footballers' union PFA.
That professional athletes on average have a longer life expectancy than the population average, have already revealed other studies. On the one hand, this is probably due to the high level of physical activity, on the other hand, that athletes smoke less often and are less likely to be overweight, writes the team around Daniel Mackay. It is also known that ex-professionals of the NFL have a higher risk for the neurodegenerative disease CTE.
However, the impact of headbones on the development of dementia can not be directly answered by the study. Nor does it say anything about the health of amateur footballers.
