Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Risk Management: The Price of Using Your Head

http://chronicle.com/article/Big-TenIvy-League-Will/132387/?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

http://www.bigten.org/genrel/061912aaa.html

NIOSH says it's a myth that NFL players die young:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/story/2012-05-08/Study-shows-NFL-players-live-longer/54847564/1

A summary of the study:




Heart health concerns fNFL Plaor yersThis summary contains information that may be related to your health. You are being sent this because you played for the National Football League (NFL) for at least five seasons during the 1959 to 1988 playing seasons.Study background: In 1990, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) asked researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to look at the rate and causes of death among players. NIOSH is a government research agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our mission at NIOSH is to conduct research that will improve job safety and health. We received the request from the NFLPA because there were concerns with shortened life span and heart disease among players. There are many different types of heart disease; all cause the heart to work incorrectly. Heart disease can cause arrhythmia, heart attacks, and heart failure. In 1994, NIOSH finished the study and noted some concerns with heart disease among players, but felt further study was needed. We recently finished a study that better examined the health risks of the players.Why was there concern for the health and life expectancy among players? When the Players Association approached us to do this study in 1990, there had been several news articles that stated NFL players only lived into their 50’s, on average. There was no scientific proof that we could find that supported this statement. We agreed that it would be important to find out if NFL players face health risks that may relate to their job. Who was in the study?We included all who played for the NFL for at least five seasons during 1959 to1988. These 3,439 men were identified using the NFL pension fund. This was a records-based study, which means we used information from the pension fund database, commercial publications, and death certificates to do the study. No surveys or blood samples were taken. We compared the rate and causes of death among these players to what would be expected among men in the general population to see if there was a difference.
March 2012
What we found:
Longevity
We found the players in our study had a much lower rate of death overall compared to men in the general population. This means that, on average, NFL players are actually living longer than men in the general population. Out of the 3,439 players in our study, 334 were deceased. Based on estimates from the general population, we had anticipated 625 would be deceased. 
Cancer
We found the players in our study also had a much lower rate of cancer-related deaths compared to the general population. A total of 85 players died from cancer when we anticipated 146 cancer-related deaths based on estimates from the general population.
Heart Disease
When looking at all of the players as a group, we found the risk of dying of heart disease was lower compared to the general population. We had anticipated 186 deaths from heart disease and found only 126. However, we looked at heart disease more closely and found some higher risk of death from heart disease among certain players:
We found players who had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or • more during their playing years had twice the risk of death from heart disease compared to other players. BMI estimates body fat. It is calculated using height and weight. A BMI of 30 or more is considered obese in the general population.
We found African American players had a 69% higher risk of • death from heart disease compared to Caucasian players. We are not sure what caused this difference. Player size and position are not the reason. In general, African Americans have been found to have a higher risk of heart disease compared to Caucasians. 
We found heart disease varied by player position. Defensive linemen • had a 42% higher risk of death from heart disease compared to men in the general population. A total of 41 defensive linemen died of heart disease, when we anticipated 29 based on estimates from the general population. As you can see in Table 1, this increase was only among the defensive linemen. All other positions had a lower chance of dying of heart disease compared to the general population. We are not certain why heart disease was higher among the defensive lineman. This was unexpected and needs further study.
Among the 41 defensive linemen who died of heart disease, 8 deaths • were due to cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a specific kind of heart disease that causes the heart to enlarge and 

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