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https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50124102


Dementia in football: Ex-players three and a half times more likely to die of condition

21 October 2019
From the section Football

Former professional footballers are three and a half times more likely to die of dementia than people of the same age range in the general population, according to new research.

Experts at Glasgow University have been investigating fears that heading the ball could be linked to brain injuries.
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It compared deaths of 7,676 ex-players to 23,000 from the general population. The sample was taken from men who played professional football in Scotland between 1900 and 1976.
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It began in January last year and was led by consultant neuropathologist Dr Willie Stewart, who said that "risk ranged from a five-fold increase in Alzheimer's disease, through an approximately four-fold increase in motor neurone disease, to a two-fold Parkinson's disease in former professional footballers compared to population controls".

Although footballers had higher risk of death from neurodegenerative disease, they were less likely to die of other common diseases, such as heart disease and some cancers, including lung cancer.
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The link between contact sport participation and neurodegenerative disease has been subject to debate in recent years, but until this study, it was not clear whether there was any evidence of an increase in neurodegenerative disease rate in former footballers.

Former England international Astle developed dementia and died in 2002 at the age of 59. The inquest into his death found heading heavy leather footballs repeatedly had contributed to trauma to his brain.
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Speaking about the findings of the Field (Football's Influence on Lifelong Health and Dementia Risk) research, various stakeholders said more research was needed.
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Brain injury charity Headway said further research should focus on modern lightweight footballs.
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