Researchers at Boston University report an elevated risk of Parkinson’s disease among men who play American football, whether at amateur or professional levels. The finding appears in the journal JAMA Network Open, based on a careful long-term assessment of participants and their health outcomes.
The study tracked 1,875 men, with 729 participants primarily engaged in amateur football and 1,146 men who played other sports serving as a comparison group. Through rigorous analysis, researchers observed that football players faced a substantially higher likelihood of developing Parkinson’s disease compared with their peers who did not play football at a similar intensity.
Specifically, football players were about 61% more likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and this association persisted even after adjusting for established risk factors known to influence the condition. Moreover, the researchers found a dose-response pattern: longer participation in football correlated with greater risk, suggesting that cumulative exposure to football-related factors may contribute to the heightened incidence. Notably, the age at which an individual begins playing did not appear to influence the odds of illness to any meaningful extent.
The investigators highlighted that football might pose additional risk to individuals who already carry other vulnerabilities, including genetic predispositions. Yet, the study stops short of identifying a single mechanism and acknowledges that the reasons behind the observed link remain unclear, inviting further inquiry into potential contributing factors such as repeated head impacts and related neurological stress.
As the largest study of its kind to date, this research distinguishes itself by focusing more on amateur players than on those at the professional level. The emphasis on a broader population helps illuminate potential health consequences for a wider group of athletes who participate in football, often without the same medical oversight found in professional settings. The findings underscore the importance of ongoing surveillance, safer play practices, and targeted health monitoring for athletes who accumulate substantial years on the gridiron. Future work aims to unravel the biological pathways that connect football exposure with neurodegenerative risk, which could, in turn, inform guidelines for training, protective equipment, and post-care strategies for former players. (JAMA Network Open, 2023)