Increased risk for neurodegenerative diseases in professional athletes

• Main Author: Lee, Michael Jisoo
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Neurosciences; Athletes; Concussion; Alzheimer's disease; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/16147

BACKGROUND: Although concussion and sport-related traumatic brain injury is being acknowledged as a major public issue, especially in professional football players, current study is mostly limited to retrospective studies and post-mortem autopsies. The purpose of this study is to identify a potential association between concussion and neurodegenerative disease in athletes, and propose a prospective approach of studying concussion and its effect. METHODS: A total of 26 studies related to concussion in athletes and published after January 2000 were collected from PubMed and Google Scholar. More recent papers with higher citation counts were given the priority. RESULTS: Retired professional football players showed five times greater risk for mild cognitive impairment, three times greater risk for memory loss, and four times greater risk for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer disease. Autopsy results from football players also revealed findings consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Population with the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) promoter G-219T TT (Thymine-Thymine) genotype showed increased susceptibility for concussion. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that a history of concussion has statistically significant associations with high incidence of neurodegenerative diseases in professional athletes. In addition, the results suggest the 2-(1-{6-[(2-[F-18]fluoroethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-naphthyl}ethylidene)malononitril(FDDNP)-positron emission tomography tau binding patterns and the APOE promoter G-219T TT genotype provide a new approach to study and monitor the progression of neurodegenerative conditions in athletes.