NFL players 4 times more likely to die of brain disease, study finds

A cohort study of nearly 20,000 NFL players, conducted by researchers from Mass General Brigham, Boston University, and the Concussion & CTE Foundation, found that NFL players are four times more likely to die from neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's disease compared to the general population. Despite showing lower overall mortality rates than national averages, players were dying of conditions like dementia and Parkinson's disease three to four times more often than expected. The findings, published in eClinicalMedicine, are described by co-senior author Dr. Daniel Daneshvar of Harvard Medical School as the clearest population-level evidence yet of elevated neurodegenerative mortality risk in NFL athletes.