Football players more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease, study finds

1. Football players more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease, study finds Nadia Kounang, CNN September 6, 2012 http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/05/health/nfl-neurodegenerative-disease/index.html

2. Cost of playing • Football is a collision sport and not a contact sport. • Professional football players are three times more likely to have neurodegenerative diseases than the general population. • Parkinson’s • Alzheimer’s • Amyotrophic Lateral sclerosis (ALS) or known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease • Risk increased to four times greater than the rest of the population.

3. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health • Evaluated autopsies of 334 NFL players. •  Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and ALS had significant contribution to the players’ death. • 7 from Alzheimer’s • 7 from ALS • 3 from Parkinson’s • The average age of the players who had died was 57. • The numbers may be small, but Lehman explains, “these are generally rare diseases, especially at the younger age.”

4. Position matters What position was played did matter. Players in speed positions like WR’s and RB’s were three times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease than players in non-speed or lineman positions.

5. Concussions Repeated concussions is found to be linked to chronic traumatic encephelopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease with Alzheimer's-like symptoms. Symptoms can include depression, memory loss and mood swings. Former Chicago Bears safety David Duerson, who committed suicide, was diagnosed with CTE postmortem. It can be diagnosed only after death.

6. Insurance Markets -

7. Insurance Markets The maximum premium that an expected utility maximiser would pay for full insurance cover increases with the probability of loss and with the size of the loss. A risk averse individual has a higher premium and is therefore prepared to give up more to avoid the risk and therefore places a greater value on the certainty.