Alzheimer’s and dementia: professional footballers are at higher risk

• Gerd Müller has terminal Alzheimer’s disease.
• The icon of FC Bayern Munich is not an isolated case among professional footballers. One study shows.
• Looking for clues.

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Nordlingen. Swabin is spoken. The small town belongs to Bavaria – at least barely. It is 110 kilometers from the foot of Swabian Alb to Stuttgart, 140 kilometers from Munich in the other direction.

He should come from here. Football’s best striker Germany has ever seen: Gerd Muller. 68 goals in 62 international matches, and countless titles National team And this FC Bayern Munich. “The Nation’s Bomber” is a The mouse. But he is not doing well. not good at all.

Mark Gerd Muller Has Terminal Alzheimer’s Disease

His wife Ushi recently told “picture”: “Gird is asleep towards the end of his life. He eats nothing next, can hardly swallow, remains in bed for almost 24 hours and has only a few waking moments.” this is a Long farewell Now 75 years old.

In February 2016, Muller came to a nursing home. Diagnosis was: Alzheimer’s. the nervous system In this disease it is attacked, dementia results – until death. His belief in the penal area, however, used to be unique.

A look back: Munich-Gessing, June 3, 1972, Grunwalder Stadium – Gerd Müller made a three-pack for Bayern in the last Bundesliga game of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt (6: 3). It was them Season goal 38 to 40 – Record! Mole today The 3: 1 was a header on the six-yard box, and Muller nearly clashed with Frankfurt goalkeeper Peter Kunter. Countless headers, a risk that contributed to his illness?

Alzheimer’s as a result of countless headers?

A current example of Head injury Hamburger is Klaus Gajasula from SV. Now 30-year-old midfielder retired in 2013 Cheekbone Fracture Service. Since then he is playing with a hard hat Made of carbon. As HSV explained on the request, Gazasula did not wear a helmet out of fear of the resulting damage. “To my feeling,” he said himself Psuedtasche Zitung. But: Scientific studies show a different trend.

“Last year was one study In Scotland. It was specifically about footballers. According to the study, they have a Five times higher riskTo develop dementia, “explains Susanna Saxel, our editorial staff from the German Alzheimer’s Society:” One particular form of dementia is that Coat. It is also called Boxer’s disease Named. It opens Assault and banter Back against the head. Headballs in football also increase this risk. “

Bored due to topic insurance claims In American football 2005, she states, “This was where the CTE issue was studied. A. Context Can be clearly proved. “

Alzheimer’s and dementia: studies in American football and the UK

The so-called at that time Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE for short in ex-NFL player Mike Webster, who died three years ago. In July 2017, the Journal of the American Medical Association also published a studyIn which 202 donated brains of dead football players were examined. result: 87 percent Suffering from CTE. To classify: is based on pathological knowledge Nerve cells destroyed Triggers in the brain. Have symptoms Loss of memory And Confusion, Moody aggression And depression.

And Alzheimer’s? As with Gerd Muller? Saxel of the German Alzheimer’s Society explains, “As far as Alzheimer’s disease is concerned, there is a study from the University of Glasgow, which was done from 2017 to 2019.” It was a sensational project.

The English Football Association FA and the players’ union PFA funded the study, researchers at the University of Glasgow and Hampden Sports Clinic examined health data 7,676 deceased Scottish professional football players. You compared him 23,028 non-athletes. Result: around that Five times more Alzheimer’s was the joint cause of death among professional footballers.

The risk of Alzheimer’s from professional football is probably quite high

Traumatic brain injuries will increase the risk of developing another form of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. In CTE, we know that the process of nerve cells Tremors getting hurt. It is not always agreed, it can Jerky movement The brain can be hurt by nerve cell expansion through a blow or a bump, for example with a header, “Saxel explains,” or when two players collide “.

Episode One: Nerve cell appendages Narrowed or stretched. It is not uncommon for symptoms and illness not to occur immediately, rather it is Only for years or decades Occur later. Age is then associated with Alzheimer’s as the “greatest risk factor”. The disease that is the last battle of his life for Gerd Muller.

Sources Used:

• Susanna Saxel, German Alzheimer’s Society E.V.
• Deutsche Alzheimer’s Gesellschaft eV: Information Paper – Chronic Trumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
• Journal of the American Medical Association: Clinicopathological evaluation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in American football players.