Ex-footballers three and a half times more likely to die of dementia

Former professional footballers are three and a half more times likely to die of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s, according to a new study by Glasgow University.

Researchers have carried out a landmark study looking into the lifelong health outcomes for former professional footballers. They compared the cause of death of 7,676 Scottish former male professional footballers with 23,000 individuals from the general population.

Consultant neuropathologist Dr Willie Stewart, honorary clinical associate Professor at the University of Glasgow, who led the FIELD study found that former professional footballers had an approximately three and a half times higher rate of death due to neurodegenerative disease than expected.

He said: “This is the largest study to date looking in this detail at the incidence of neurodegenerative disease in any sport, not just professional footballers.

“A strength of our study design is that we could look in detail at rates of different neurodegenerative disease subtypes. This analysis revealed that risk ranged from a 5-fold increase in Alzheimer’s disease, through an approximately 4-fold increase in motor neurone disease, to a 2-fold Parkinson’s disease in former professional footballers compared to population controls.”

The study, however found that footballers were less likely to die of other common diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. They also found the deaths in former footballers were lower than expected up to the age of 70, and higher than expected over that age.

Dr Stewart added: “Our data show that while former footballers had higher dementia rates, they had lower rates of death due to other major diseases. As such, whilst every effort must be made to identify the factors contributing to the increased risk of neurodegenerative disease to allow this risk to be reduced, there are also wider potential health benefits of playing football to be considered.”

Greg Clarke, FA Chairman, said: "This is the most comprehensive study ever commissioned into neurodegenerative disease in former professional footballers. We welcome its findings and thank Dr Willie Stewart for diligently leading this important research."

Gordon Taylor, PFA chief executive, added: “These findings are a matter of considerable importance to our members. We are grateful to Dr Willie Stewart and his team for their work.

“The PFA co-funded FIELD, alongside The FA. It is now incumbent on football globally to come together to address this issue in a comprehensive and united manner. Research must continue to answer more specific questions about what needs to be done to identify and reduce risk factors.

“Our members wellbeing is of paramount importance to us, and we are committed to representing their voice as this conversation opens up across football’s stakeholders.”

Dr James Pickett, head of research at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It also doesn’t explain why playing professional football might be increasing someone’s risk of dementia and more studies looking at changes in the brain will help us do this.

“There have been changes in the game of football over the decades, for instance heavy leather balls used in the past have been replaced with the lighter latex and plastic ones used today, and the risks for the modern day professional footballer may be different.”

The paper ‘Neurodegenerative disease mortality in former professional soccer players’ is published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The work was supported by funding from The Football Association and The Professional Footballers’ Association Charity; and an NHS Research Scotland Career Researcher Fellowship.