Alarming New Study Exposes Long-Term Health Risks For Former NFL Players — They Don’t Want You To See This

This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

A new study points to another troubling long-term health risk for former NFL players.

Researchers found that players who appeared in at least one NFL game were four times more likely to die from neurodegenerative diseases than people in the general population.

The study was conducted by the Concussion & CTE Foundation, Mass General Brigham and Boston University. It examined nearly 20,000 players who appeared in NFL games over several decades.

The findings included diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, ALS, multiple sclerosis and Huntington’s disease.

It was also discovered that career length mattered.

Players who spent five or more seasons in the NFL had nearly double the risk of dying from a neurodegenerative disease compared to those who played four seasons or fewer.

“This is the clearest population-level evidence we have ever had that NFL players are dying due to neurodegenerative disease at real and measurably higher rates,” Dr. Daniel Daneshvar said.

Daneshvar is the Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School. He is also the director of the HealthSpan Lab.

He added that dementia and Parkinson’s disease occurred three to four times more often among former NFL players than expected.

NFL Players Are Also More Likely To Have A Longer-Than-Average Lifespan

On another note, the study also found one encouraging trend.

Former NFL players generally live longer than the average person. Researchers said elite athletes often benefit from healthier lifestyles, lower smoking rates and better overall physical health, which contributes to longer life expectancy.

However, those advantages do not appear to offset the effects of repeated head trauma.

Researchers pointed to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as the most likely explanation for the higher rate of neurodegenerative disease.

Dr. Jesse Mez said the increase was significant, noting that heavy lead exposure historically produced a smaller increase in dementia risk than what researchers observed among former NFL players.

This isn’t the first study to reach such a concerning conclusion.

Earlier research found that former NFL players were also four times more likely to develop ALS. This adds to a growing body of evidence linking repeated head impacts to serious neurological conditions.

Ex-NFL running back Chris Johnson disclosed having been diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder late last month.