Abstract
Objective
To assess whether athletes who played American varsity high school football between
1956 and 1970 have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases later in life.
Patients and Methods
We identified all male varsity football players between 1956 and 1970 in the public
high schools of Rochester, Minnesota, and non–football-playing male varsity swimmers,
wrestlers, and basketball players. Using the medical records linkage system of the
Rochester Epidemiology Project, we ascertained the incidence of late-life neurodegenerative
diseases: dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We also recorded
medical record–documented head trauma during high school years.
Results
We identified 296 varsity football players and 190 athletes engaging in other sports.
Football players had an increased risk of medically documented head trauma, especially
if they played football for more than 1 year. Compared with nonfootball athletes,
football players did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease overall
or of the individual conditions of dementia, parkinsonism, and amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis.
Conclusion
In this community-based study, varsity high school football players from 1956 to 1970
did not have an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases compared with athletes
engaged in other varsity sports. This was from an era when there was a generally nihilistic
view of concussion dangers, less protective equipment, and no prohibition of spearing
(head-first tackling). However, the size and strength of players from previous eras
may not be comparable with that of current high school athletes.
Abbreviations and Acronyms:
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), MCI (mild cognitive impairment), NA (not applicable), PD (Parkinson disease), REP (Rochester Epidemiology Project)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: December 12, 2016
Footnotes
Grant Support: This study was made possible by the Rochester Epidemiology Project (grant number R01-AG034676; Principal Investigators: Walter A. Rocca, MD, MPH, and Jennifer St Sauver, PhD).
Potential Competing Interests: Dr Boeve has received personal fees from the Scientific Advisory Board of the Tau Consortium and Isis Pharmaceuticals and grants from GE Healthcare, the National Institutes of Health, the Mangurian Foundation, Cephalon Inc, FORUM Pharmaceuticals, and C2N Diagnostics, all outside the present work. Dr Mielke serves as a consultant for Lysosomal Therapeutics Inc and holds a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation, both outside the present work.
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© 2016 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
