NFL Players More Likely Than General Population To Die from Alzheimer’s, ALS

New research concludes that professional football players are three times more likely to die from diseases that damage brain cells, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis  — also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), than the general U.S. population; a player’s risk of death from Alzheimer’s disease or ALS is almost four times higher than the general population.

The study analyzed 3,439 National Football League (NFL) players with an average age of 57 with at least five playing seasons between 1959 and 1988. Researchers reviewed death certificates for causes of death. Of the 334 who died, seven had Alzheimer’s and seven had ALS. The risk of dying from Parkinson’s disease was not significantly different than that of the general population.

The study ran in the Sept. 5, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. For more information, click here to read the full release.