Retired NFL Players Experience Depression, Dementia

Tests performed on retired National Football League players found that more than 40% suffered from depression and dementia, according to Maureen Salaman, writing on June 29 for HealthDay. Researchers at the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas, Dallas, examined 34 former professional football players for such problems as depression and dementia. The average age of the players was 62.

Of the 34 players, 20 tested normal while 14 were found to be suffering from depression, deficits in memory and thinking or a combination of these problems. The doctors also gave MRI scans to 26 of the players.

Study author John Hart, M.D., medical science director at the center said, “We picked up that many guys were depressed but didn’t know it. The cognitive impairments…were more than what’s expected for their ages. A lot had damage to their brain’s white matter, so for us it’s a real clue or marker to look for.”

According to Salaman, the incidence of depression was the finding that most surprised Hart. “There was a lack of energy, initiative or sex drive and disrupted sleep, with weight gain or loss, ” he said. “They would ruminate or get anxious about stuff, but they weren’t crying. They [the former players] were shocked or surprised [at the finding]; because they didn’t think they had symptoms at all.”

The study involved former NFL athletes who came from the North Texas region. For comparison purposes, the researchers also looked at the brains of 26 people with no signs of mental deficits, selected from the general population and matched for age, education and IQ.

Salaman noted that in June more than 2, 100 NFL players filed suit against the league claiming that the organization hid information linking football-related head injuries to permanent brain damage.