Study Finds Increased Dementia Rate
A study commissioned by the NFL found that memory-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease have been diagnosed among former players at a significantly higher rate than among the general population, the New York Times reported. The study was conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and a summary of its findings was distributed to league officials this month, the Times reported. According to the Times report, researchers conducted a phone survey last year of more than 1,000 former players and found that 6.1 percent of players age 50 and above reported receiving a diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer's disease or other memory-related disease, five times the national average cited in the survey, and 1.9 percent of players ages 30 to 49 indicated they'd received such a diagnosis, 19 times the national average. The study questioned the reliability of phone surveys to assess dementia rates, the Times reported,
