A study conducted by researchers at the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom) looked at the state of health, throughout their lives, of former international rugby players. This study, which has just been published in the Journal of Neurologyshows that former rugby players have an approximately two and a half times higher risk of neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.), regardless of the player’s position on the pitch.
10 times greater risk of motor neuron disease
Professor Willie Stewart, a professor at the University of Glasgow, and his team compared the health outcomes of 412 Scottish former international rugby players with those of more than 1,200 people recruited from the general population. The results show that if the age at death was slightly higher among former rugby players, they had a higher risk of diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease compared to the control group. This risk then varies by disease, ranging from approximately a doubling of the risk of being diagnosed with dementia to a more than 10-fold increased risk of being diagnosed with motor neuron disease, a disease that results in progressive loss of motor neurons and progressive paralysis.
As part of the FIELD research program, Professor Stewart had previously demonstrated an increased risk of neurogenerative disease in former American football players. This new study shows that rugby players are not spared.
“These new data, which show that the risk of motor neurone disease is even higher in rugby players than in former professional footballers, are particularly worrying” underlines the doctor. He adds: “Taking into account these new results as well as our previous work in the FIELD studies, precautionary approaches should be adopted to reduce unnecessary impacts to the head and better manage traumatic brain injuries in all sports. of contact”.
Source : Neurodegenerative disease risk among former international rugby union playersJournal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, October 2022
