Football players have high risk of cardiac & neurological diseases

First study to analyse comparatives health risks of sportspersons puts football players at higher cardiac risk

Professional football players appear to have a somewhat elevated risk of death, including higher risk of succumbing to cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases. This is in comparison to professional baseball players of similar age, according to new research. 

The findings raise important questions about sport-specific differences in disease development and the mechanisms that drive the elevated risk. Such mechanisms mandate further research, the investigators said. 

The analysis–the first head-to-head comparison between elite professional athletes of similar ages–is published May 24 in JAMA Network Open. The work was conducted by investigators at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

The number of excess deaths (77) stemming from cardiovascular illness was markedly higher, which may be due to several factors, including higher body-mass index among football players and the sheer prevalence of cardiovascular illness, the researchers said

The findings are based on a retrospective analysis of death rates and causes of death in 3,419 NFL (National Football League) and 2,708 MLB (Major League Baseball) players over more than 30 years. 

There were 517 deaths among NFL players and 431 deaths among MLB players between 1979 and 2013. The difference translates into a 26 percent higher mortality among football players compared with baseball players. NFL players had a nearly threefold greater likelihood of dying of neurodegenerative conditions, compared with MLB players. They also had a nearly 2.5-fold risk of dying from a cardiac cause, the study showed. There were 498 deaths stemming from cardiovascular causes among the NFL players and 225 such deaths among MLB players. The study identified 39 deaths from neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, ALS and Parkinson’s in NFL players and 16 such deaths in MLB players. There were 11 suicides among the NFL group and five in the MLB group.

Extrapolating these differences into absolute numbers, the researchers said, the elevated risk would translate into one additional death from a neurodegenerative disease per 1,000 NFL players by age 55 rising to 11 additional neurodegenerative deaths by age 75, compared with MLB players. Cardiovascular causes would account for 16 additional deaths per 1,000 NFL players by age 55 and rising to 77 additional deaths by age 75 in NFL players, compared with MLB players.

“Even a single preventable or premature death is one too many, so it is critical for scientists and clinicians to pursue further research into teasing out the reasons behind this increased mortality,” said study senior author Marc Weisskopf, the Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Epidemiology and Physiology at the Harvard Chan School. “However, it is important to remember that the actual number of additional deaths from neurodegenerative diseases among football players remains low.”

The number of excess deaths (77) stemming from cardiovascular illness was markedly higher, which may be due to several factors, including higher body-mass index among football players and the sheer prevalence of cardiovascular illness, the researchers said. Indeed, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide.

The results point to the existence of sport-specific differences in sport-related injuries and athlete conditioning as important contributors to disease development. For example, head trauma, repetitive head injuries and subconcussive blows in NFL athletes may contribute to the onset of pathologies that eventually lead to certain neurologic conditions, the researchers said. Football players’ larger overall size and greater body-mass index, which renders them more susceptible to hypertension and sleep apnea, can also be contributors, the researchers added.