LONDON (Reuters) - Football players are more likely to die of dementia than those associated with common diseases such as heart disease and cancer, a study in Scotland found.
The study involved 18 former professional footballers, which lasted 18 years.
1,180 players and 3,807 others have died over the course of the study, and the death rates of players have been lower than any other cause until the age of 70, according to Sky News.
However, they experienced a 3.5 times higher death rate from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's syndrome.
That remained somewhat lower - 1.7 percent among former players and 0.5 percent among the other.
Former players were also more likely to take dementia and aging drugs than the other group.
But dr. Robert Stern, a professor at Boston University who studied sports-related brain injuries, wrote in a commentary in the journal "The results should not provoke fear and panic."
He pointed out that the results for professional players may not apply to playing at amateur levels, in university patrols or for recreation, nor do they apply to women.