football players they are 50% more likely to develop dementia than the general population. new major study published today, Friday.

Researchers from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, who published their findings in the scientific journal Lancet Public Health, compared the health histories of 6,000 top-level soccer players and at least 56,000 other non-football Swedes between 1924 and 2019.

They found that among male footballers playing in the first division of the Swedish league, 9% were diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease.compared to 6% control.

The study analyzed differences in the cognitive health of players compared to goalkeepers. The researchers found that gamers have a 1.6 times higher risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia compared to the general population.

However, goalkeepers who rarely headbutt were not at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, “based on the hypothesis that light blows to the head with a headbutt may explain the increased risk for football players,” the study noted.

“Our results confirm that goalkeepers do not have the same increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases as players. Goalkeepers rarely headbutt compared to soccer players, but they face the same environment and lifestyle throughout their careers and possibly after they hang up their boots,” said lead author Peter Udea from the Swedish Karolinska Institute.

In contrast, in football players, the researchers did not find a significant increase in the risk of movement disorders, while the risk of Parkinson’s disease and overall mortality among football players was lower compared to the control group.

This is the largest study on the topic since a 2019 study in Scotland found that football players are 3.5 times more likely to develop degenerative brain disease than the general population.

Source: Guardian