Columbia Psychiatry Expert on Dementia Rates Among Ex-NFL Players

(October 2, 2009)  

Retired professional football players may have a higher rate than normal of Alzheimer''s disease or other memory problems, suggests a preliminary study that provides more fuel for concerns about long-term risk of concussions. Experts said that the work was not definitive but that it fit in with other studies suggesting a long-term risk from head injuries in sports. In the new work, 1,063 ex-players were asked if they''d ever been diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer''s disease or other memory-related disease. About 2 percent of the former players ages 30 to 49 said yes. That''s 19 times the rate for the same age group in the general population …

Dr. Scott A. Small, an expert on Alzheimer''s and memory at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, called the new result ''intriguing and alarming.” “The most important thing it tells us is that additional studies need to be performed, and I would say, urgently,' he said. 'This is not a trivial matter.'

  

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