A new study has revealed the long-term health impacts of playing college football, widening the links between professional sport and neurodegenerative disease and brain disorders.
A new study of former University of Notre Dame football players who were seniors on the 1964-1980 rosters has revealed they are five times more likely to report cognitive impairment diagnoses than men of the same age in the general population.
Additionally, the study from the Boston University (BU) CTE Center reveals, they are two-and-a-half times more likely to report recurrent headaches and 65 per cent more likely to have cardiovascular disorders during life.
Consistent with reports of former NFL players, mortality due to degenerative brain disease, specifically Parkinson’s disease and ALS, was higher in the former college players compared to the general population, but the researchers caution that the difference did not reach statistical significance.
Mortality from brain and other nervous system cancers was almost four times higher in the former college players compared to the general population.
The risk of developing conditions including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and dementia among sports professionals is being increasingly known, with many former sportspeople bravely sharing their stories and campaigners fighting to make changes to safeguard current and future generations of players.
According to the researchers, results of the new study of former college players are overall quite similar to the former professional players.
“Similar to studies of other former high-level athletes, we found that former college football players have lower overall mortality and lower risk of death from lung cancer and heart disease,” says corresponding author Dr Robert Stern, director of clinical research for the BU CTE Center and professor of neurology, neurosurgery and anatomy & neurobiology at BU School of Medicine.
“However, the negative health consequences, especially the brain-related disorders, we found in this group of former Notre Dame players are concerning.”
According to the new paper, more than 800,000 student-athletes played football in American colleges since 1960, with more than 250,000 former college players currently over age 60.
“From a public health perspective, it is imperative that the long-term neurological and general health consequences of playing football at the college level are better understood,” says Dr Stern.
That Steering Committee of Notre Dame alumni includes Pro Football Hall of Famer Dave Casper, All-American and former NFL player Luther Bradley Jr., and four-time Super Bowl Champion Rocky Bleier, among several others.
Bleier, who is co-chair of the Steering Committee, says: “We all loved the game that we played at Notre Dame.
“We just believe that the health of the game and the health of the players go hand in hand, and hope that the results of this study provide some initial answers and benefits to our teammates, as well as future players and their families at all levels of the sport.”
Ed Ziegler, a former player and retired law professor who played a central role in forming and coordinating the Steering Committee, adds: “We began with the hope of joining together to go down a path where we might find some potential answers.
“The findings of this initial study indicate a need for further exploration and dialogue about ways to maximise the potential health benefits of the game and reduce factors that may increase the risk for later life brain disorders.”
The former Notre Dame football players will continue to be followed longitudinally through the new Head Impact & Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS), funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
