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October 06, 2009
Study indicates former NFL players may have increased risk for dementia.
On its front page, the New York Times (9/30, A1, Schwartz) reports that "Alzheimer's disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league's former players vastly more often than in the national population -- including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49," according to an NFL-commissioned study conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.
For the study, the investigators "conducted a phone survey in late 2008 in which 1,063 retired players" or their caretakers "were asked questions on a variety of health topics," including "if they had ever been diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or other memory-related disease." Notably, "6.1 percent of players age 50 and above reported that they had received a dementia-related diagnosis, five times higher than the cited national average" of "1.2 percent."
Related Links:
- Dementia Risk Seen in Players in N.F.L. Study ," Alan Schwarz, The New York Times, September 29, 2009.
Posted by admin at October 6, 2009 01:08 AM