A systematic review on the risk of neurodegenerative diseases and neurocognitive disorders in professional and varsity athletes

Abstract

Objective The aim of this systematic review (SR) was to gather all available epidemiological evidence on former participation in any type of sport, at a professional and varsity level, as a potential risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) and neurocognitive disorders (NCDs). Design Systematic searches were performed on PubMed, the Cochrane databases, and the ISI Web of Knowledge databases. Included studies were assessed using the NOS checklist. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies All epidemiological studies reporting data on the possible association between a clinical diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/motor neuron disease (MND), dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Parkinson’s disease (PD), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) at any stage and with any clinical pattern and the former participation in any types of sport at a varsity and professional level were included. Results Data from the 17 included studies showed a higher frequency of NDs and NCDs in former soccer and American football players. Updating the previous SR confirmed a higher frequency of ALS/MND in former soccer players. Data reported a significantly higher risk of dementia/AD in former soccer players, and of MCI in former American football players. Results also showed a significantly higher risk of PD in former soccer and American football players, and a significantly higher risk of CTE in former boxers and American football players. Summary/conclusions This SR confirmed a higher risk of NDs and NCDs in former professional/varsity athletes. However, the pathological mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear, and further high-quality studies should be performed to clarify whether the association could be sport specific.

Kumanu Tāngata: the aftermatch study – protocol to examine the health outcomes of high-level male rugby union players using linked administrative data

“…In addition, postmortem examinations have revealed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy neuropathological change (CTE-NC) in the brains of former athletes,3 4 with associations observed between CTE-NC and repetitive head impacts in contact sports 5. Although questions remain about the clinical significance of CTE-NC,6 these findings have led to increasing attention, both in scientific publications6–8 and in books and media reports,9 10 of the potential long-term impacts of mild TBI and repetitive head acceleration events resulting from exposure to contact sports.…”

“…Consequently, much of the research on health outcomes linked to participation in contact sports has focused on neurodegenerative diseases. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses have indicated an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases and mortality attributed to neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in professional-level contact sport athletes 6–8 11. In studies using large-scale administrative data, higher mortality from neurodegenerative diseases has been reported in professional association football players12–15 and former National Football League athletes16 17 when compared with the general population.…”

Combining reinforcement learning and virtual reality in mild neurocognitive impairment: a new usability assessment on patients and caregivers

“…Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is defined as a personal health and clinical condition in which an individual's self-perception is affected by worsening cognitive abilities and functioning compared to their previous levels of performance (Boccardi et al, 2022 ; Creavin et al, 2022 ). The literature available emphasizes that people with SCD have a higher risk for suffering dementia than young and older adults without SCD because their subjective cognitive decline partially reflects a fine disease that does not yet meet the MNI criteria or diagnosis (Bellomo et al, 2022 ; Weinstein et al, 2022 ; Bradfield, 2023 ). In addition to the pharmacological approach, cognitive rehabilitation has been increasingly adopted (Chen et al, 2021 ; Chae and Lee, 2023 ; Gómez-Soria et al, 2023 ; Perra et al, 2023 ).…”

Color-Coding Method Reveals Enhancement of Stereotypic Locomotion by Phenazepam in Rat Open Field Test

“…The development of approaches in diagnostics of various conditions, such as neurodegenerative diseases, latent viral infections, and side effects of neurotrophic drugs is a special class of tasks in neuroscience and behavioral neurobiology, in particular. These conditions affect the brain systemically and do not manifest themselves in an obvious and specific way at certain stages [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In this study, we chose rats medicated by phenazepam to model such a condition.…”