The prevalence of Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy in former NFL players has sparked concern that current and former football players at all levels are facing increased risk of cognitive problems later in life. A recent study from JAMA Neurology suggests that there is no enhanced risk for former high-school football players.

Data from a comprehensive study of more than 3,900 Wisconsin men who graduated high school in 1957 revealed that “there was no statistically or clinically significant harmful association between playing football in high school and increased cognitive impairment or depression later in life, on average.”

This means that, for men who attended high school in the mid-to-late-1950s, playing high school football “did not appear to be a major risk factor for later-life cognitive impairment or depression.”

Source: Pro Football Talk

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