Blog 2 - Neurodegenerative Diseases

According to researchers at Boston University there have been recent health issues related to football injuries.  These studies claim that football players are more likely to get neurodegenerative diseases, than any other sport do to the amount of body contact.  These NFL players are more likely to get Alzheimer’s and ALS than the general population.  Of these NFL players the quarter back and the running back are three times more likely to have this disease since they are considered to be the main target for the defensive players.  Scientists had decided to view the neurological outcome of 334 football players by taking autopsies.  Of these players the Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS had a big contribution to them.  Seven of the players had died from Alzheimer’s, seven died from ALS and three died from Parkinson’s.  As well the average age these player’s died was 57.  These numbers may seem small but the fact that 17 of these players have all experienced these uncommon diseases is a lead.  Now many football players are trying to sue the NFL for not warning them about all the injuries and risks that came along with playing this sport.  Signing up for the sport they should know all the risks of what can happen, it is a contact sport and they decided to follow through with this.  Studies have also been done that due to the amount of concussions in football it can then be linked to a neurodegenerative disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This disease can only be diagnosed after death and has similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease.  These symptoms can include memory loss, mood swings and depression.  The league wants to donate $30 million to a health institute to provide more research on brain trauma and how it can potentially lead to CTE and early life Alzheimer’s. 

            What people don’t realize is that playing a professional sport does involve contact and injuries.  These athletes need to be mentally and physically fit in order to play these sports.  Some of these players will get injuries but they need to be well aware of how physical the sport is before they get involved.  Most professional teams from NFL to NHL have contact, but the reason the NFL is more prone to head injuries is due to the amount of contact and tackling the sport has.  Hockey has hitting, but they do not tackle the other players to the ice they just hit them into the boards.  Therefore that is why football is the sport with the leading cases of neurodegenerative diseases.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/health/nfl-neurodegenerative-disease/index.html?hpt=he_c2