Poor study quality yields only suggestive results, but these seem to indicate a causal link.
Concern is growing about the links between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurodegenerative diseases. A review and a cohort study of National Football League (NFL) players attempt to clarify the relationships.
Lehman and colleagues examined mortality in a cohort of 3439 NFL players with at least five seasons of play (1959–1988). Although overall mortality in the cohort (n=334 deaths) was approximately half the rate of the U.S. population, the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) was significantly higher for neurodegenerative disorders (n=17; SMR, 3.26), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n=7; SMR, 4.31), and Alzheimer disease (AD; n=7; SMR, 3.86) as underlying or contributory causes, but not Parkinson disease (n=3). When players were examined ac…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)