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Despite Size, NFL Players Not
More Likely To Develop Heart
Disease, Even After Retirement
Former professional football players with large bodies don't
appear to have the same risk factors for heart disease as their
non-athletic
counterparts, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers
have found in
studying a group of former professional players from the
National
Football League (NFL).
Compared to other men in a similar age
range, retired NFL players had
a significantly lower prevalence of
diabetes, hypertension, sedentary
lifestyles and metabolic syndrome,
the study authors report. The scientific
findings appear in the
September issue of the American Journal of
Cardiology.
The
researchers noted "Despite their large body size, retired NFL
players
do not have a greater prevalence of heart disease risk factors
when
compared to the general population. In fact, other factors such as
age
and high cholesterol levels were better predictors for heart disease
than the body size of the former athletes in our study."
When
body mass index (BMI) standards are applied, more than half
of all
professional football players are considered overweight or obese,
which
is considered an indicator for heart disease risk. Interestingly,
although a majority of these players are not as fit and active after
retirement,
they still had fewer risk factors for heart disease than
men of the same age
and body size from the Dallas Heart Study, a
groundbreaking investigation
of cardiovascular disease that involves
thousands of Dallas County residents.
Staying physically fit
earlier in life might have offset the risks associated
with a large
body size. The study examined 150 former pro athletes and
150 normal
counterparts from the Dallas Heart Study with an average age
of 55. The
median BMI for both groups was higher than 31, which is
considered to
be in the obese range.
Retired NFL players didn't get a totally
clean bill of health, however. As
a group they were found to have
developed similar amounts of coronary
atherosclerosis (hardening of the
arteries) as the group of non athletes.
Although they were less likely
to have diabetes, they had higher rates of
pre-diabetes, high fasting
blood-sugar numbers that increase their risk
for developing diabetes in
the future.
The study authors' scientific investigation with a
high-profile group could
have far-reaching implications. More than 60
percent of offensive and
defensive linemen at the high-school level,
they note, also can be
characterized through BMI as overweight or obese.
"The
good news is that as long as you remain active and fit, even with
a
larger body, you can lower your risk for heart disease," the doctors
explained. "The bad news is that being a professional athlete doesn't
eliminate your risk for developing heart disease later in life. Even
professional athletes may be at risk for developing heart disease
as
they age."
The doctors concluded professional athletes should
continue exercise
regimens after their professional careers are over.
For the public at large,
the study reaffirms that exercise is an
important way to decrease the risk
for heart disease.
UTAH Southwestern researchers contributed to the study of as well as
researchers from the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, the University of
Washington,
Emory University School of Medicine, the Baptist Cardiac
and Vascular
Institute, and the Living Heart Foundation.
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