Are Soccer Pros at Higher Risk for ALS?
By Admin | April 17, 2019
Professional soccer players may be vulnerable to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a new study suggests.
The Italian researchers also found that soccer players may develop the neurodegenerative disease at a much younger age than people in the general population.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement such as walking or talking. There is no cure for the disease, which eventually leads to death, most often from respiratory failure.
"There have been several deaths among Italian professional soccer players from ALS, and previous ALS research has found repeated head injuries may be a risk factor for the disease, so our study sought to determine if professional soccer players are more likely to get ALS," said study author Dr. Ettore Beghi. He's from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan.
The scientists looked at nearly 25,000 men who played professional soccer in Italy between 1959 and 2000.
For more information on this, please read, Are Soccer Pros at Higher Risk for ALS?, by Consumer Health Daily.
