Study reveals higher risk of Motor Neurone Disease and Dementia in rugby players
Scientists at Glasgow University have discovered former players are two and a half times more likely to develop a neurodegenerative condition.
Scientists at the University of Glasgow are warning rugby players are two and a half times more likely to develop Alzheimer's Disease, Motor Neurone Disease and Parkinson's.
Researchers compared 412 male former international rugby players with 1,236 matched members of the general population.
"It needs urgent attention"
Professor Willie Stewart led the research and told MFR: "The thing that stood out the most for me is the very high risk of developing Motor Neurone Disease in the population we are looking at.
"That is about 15 times higher than what we expected and it was really quite startling.
"It needs urgent attention and it will mean asking people who have MND and have participated in sport to consider donating their brains for research after they die.
"That would allow us to understand what is happening to brains and what is causing this problem."
The results from the study also suggest former rugby players are less likely to die from a respiratory disease.
Dr Emma Russell, researcher at the University of Glasgow and first author on the study, said: “An important aspect of this work has been the ability to look across a range of health outcomes in former professional rugby players, allowing us to build a clear picture of health in this population.
“Our data show that, in contrast to our previous findings in former professional football players, rugby players do not appear to benefit from a reduced risk of death due to cardiovascular disease or cancer, suggesting the possibility of sport-specific influences on lifelong health.”