Footballers ‘3.5 times more likely to die from dementia’
FOOTBALLERS are at significant risk of developing dementia, a study has found.
For years families of former professionals, like the late England striker Jeff Astle, have warned that their loved ones died with neurological problems thought to be linked to repeatedly heading the ball.
They have now been vindicated by the first major study of the problem, which found that ex-players are three and a half times more likely to die from any form of dementia than the general population.
The research into the deaths of 7,680 Scottish professionals born between 1900 and 1976 showed they were five times as likely to have died from Alzheimer’s – the most common form of dementia – as the wider public. The Glasgow University study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also found that footballers were more likely to die of motor neurone disease and Parkinson’s.
Last night the Football Association, which funded the research with the Professional Footballers’ Association players’ union, said it was studying the results closely.
The FA said it will also assess the impact on the grassroots game. Although the research did not assess the exact cause of the neurological problems, most experts agree repeatedly heading the ball is likely to be a source.
This view was reinforced by the finding that goalkeepers, who head the ball less than other players, were half as likely to be treated for dementia than colleagues.
The FA set up the study after a long campaign by the family of former West Brom star Astle, who died aged 59 with a neurological disorder caused by the repeated impact of heading footballs. His daughter Dawn, 51, said: ‘We knew dad could not be the only one.’