Study highlights fresh dementia concerns from playing soccer

By: The Associated Press Posted: 6:58 AM CDT Monday, Oct. 21, 2019 Last Modified: 10:30 AM CDT Monday, Oct. 21, 2019

Advertise with us

LONDON - British scientists who assessed the causes of death of soccer players have found higher dementia rates that raise fresh concerns about long-term health dangers from playing the sport.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

LONDON - British scientists who assessed the causes of death of soccer players have found higher dementia rates that raise fresh concerns about long-term health dangers from playing the sport.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/10/2019 (2495 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON – British scientists who assessed the causes of death of soccer players have found higher dementia rates that raise fresh concerns about long-term health dangers from playing the sport.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow looked into the causes of death of 7,676 Scottish men who played soccer and were born between 1900 and 1976. The causes were compared with a sample of 23,000 people from the general population.

The study found that former professional players had a rate of death due to neurodegenerative diseases 3.5 times higher than expected.

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2019, file image taken with a slow shutter speed a soccer player runs for the ball during the Euro 2020 group A qualifying soccer match in Prague, Czech Republic. A study, from the University of Glasgow and reported Monday, Oct. 21, in New England Journal of Medicine, of former professional soccer players in Scotland found that they were less likely to die of common causes such as heart disease and cancer compared with the general population but more likely to die from dementia. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

English Football Association chairman Greg Clark says “the whole game must recognize that this is only the start of our understanding and there are many questions that still need to be answered. It is important that the global football family now unites to find the answers and provide a greater understanding of this complex issue.”

Willie Stewart, who led the study, says their analysis showed a five-fold increase in the chance of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease among soccer players.

But players were found to be less likely to die of other common diseases, including some cancers.