Research shows huge spike in MND risk among former international players

LONDON : A new study looking at the impact of concussion on a group of former Scottish international rugby players has found that they were 15 times more likely to develop motor neurone disease (MND) than the general population.

The figure is likely to send shock waves through the sport, which is already embroiled in a legal fight over the link between concussion and early onset dementia and which is scrambling to find ways of reducing incidences of concussion in matches and training at all levels.

In findings published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry on Tuesday, researchers found that the players group had an approximately two and a half times higher risk of neurodegenerative disease than expected but that player position had no impact on risk.

The stand-out result were the figures for MND, a condition that has been brought into the rugby spotlight by the suffering of former Scotland lock Doddie Weir and former Great Britain rugby league scrumhalf Rob Burrow.

Led by consultant neuropathologist Willie Stewart, Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, the FIELD research team compared health outcomes among 412 male former Scottish international rugby players and over 1,200 matched individuals from the general population.

The study is a continuation of research made by the same organisation into neurodegenerative risk among former professional footballers and players and also found similarities with the NFL.

"This latest work demonstrates that risk of neurodegenerative disease is not isolated to former footballers, but also a concern for former rugby players," Stewart told journalists.

"It provides further insight into the association between contact sports and neurodegenerative disease risk. Of