Rugby players at higher risk of dementia, major new study suggests

RUGBY players are more likely to develop dementia, suggests a major new study.

- STEPHEN BEECH

Researchers found male former high-level rugby players in New Zealand have a 22% increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia later in life compared to men in the general population.

The study is the latest in a series of reports linking contact sports to increased dementia risk.

High-profile rugby union players diagnosed with dementia include former Wales internationals Alix Popham and Dafydd James, England World Cup winner Steve Thompson, New Zealand’s Carl Hayman and Scotland's Roy Laidlaw.

Several are suffering from early-onset dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, linked to repetitive head trauma from the sport, and have joined legal action against rugby's governing bodies over brain injury negligence.

The research team which conducted the new study examined long-term neurodegenerative disease risk among almost 13,000 men who played rugby at provincial-level or higher between 1950 and 2000, and compared them with 2.4 million New Zealand men, matched on age, ethnicity and birthplace.

The new study, supported by World Rugby and the New Zealand Rugby Foundation, was co-led by senior lecturer Dr Stephanie D'Souza, from the University of Auckland, and Dr Ken Quarrie, from New Zealand Rugby.