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Dwight Clark has ALS

Bucky

Bucky

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Hopefully we are soon to finding a cure. It is no surprise more and more NFL players are retiring during their prime years.
 
Bucky said:
Hopefully we are soon to finding a cure. It is no surprise more and more NFL players are retiring during their prime years.
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That is horrible news and a horrible disease.
 
Bucky said:
Hopefully we are soon to finding a cure. It is no surprise more and more NFL players are retiring during their prime years.
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How does retiring early help with ALS? It has nothing to do with the NFL...
 
Bucky said:
What causes it?
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Not Football....

Causes

ALS is inherited in 5 to 10 percent of cases, while the rest have no known cause.

Researchers are studying several possible causes of ALS, including:

Gene mutation. Various genetic mutations can lead to inherited ALS, which causes nearly the same symptoms as the noninherited form.
Chemical imbalance. People with ALS generally have higher than normal levels of glutamate, a chemical messenger in the brain, around the nerve cells in their spinal fluid. Too much glutamate is known to be toxic to some nerve cells.
Disorganized immune response. Sometimes a person's immune system begins attacking some of his or her body's own normal cells, which may lead to the death of nerve cells.
Protein mishandling. Mishandled proteins within the nerve cells may lead to a gradual accumulation of abnormal forms of these proteins in the cells, destroying the nerve cells.
Risk factors

Established risk factors for ALS include:

Heredity. Five to 10 percent of the people with ALS inherited it (familial ALS). In most people with familial ALS, their children have a 50-50 chance of developing the disease.
Age. ALS risk increases with age, and is most common between the ages of 40 and 60.
Sex. Before the age of 65, slightly more men than women develop ALS. This sex difference disappears after age 70.
Genetics. Some studies examining the entire human genome (genomewide association studies) found many similarities in the genetic variations of people with familial ALS and some people with noninherited ALS. These genetic variations might make people more susceptible to ALS.
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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
 
Bucky said:
Hopefully we are soon to finding a cure. It is no surprise more and more NFL players are retiring during their prime years.
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Wow, I did not know this.

Clark becomes at least the sixth former player in the past 10 years to be diagnosed with this incurable disease that gradually shuts down every muscle in the body. Former Patriots and Eagles running back Kevin Turner had ALS and died in 2016.
Dwight Clark, ex-49er famous for The Catch, Has ALS | The MMQB with Peter King
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Bucky said:
What causes it?
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Wrong person to ask, obviously.

From the same SI article posted above:
....the American Academy of Neurology published a study of 3,500 former players that said pro football players were four times as likely to die from ALS or Alzheimer’s disease as the general population.
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Bucky said:
Hopefully we are soon to finding a cure. It is no surprise more and more NFL players are retiring during their prime years.
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Terrible disease. Absolutely one of the worst. As to its connection to football, see my signature.
 
calamity said:
Whatever you say, Dr Renae.
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Athleticism, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and physical exercise
Historically, the most famous ALS patient was Lou Gehrig, the renowned US baseball player. Several studies have demonstrated increased risk of ALS among football or soccer players,111–114 other athletes,115 and individuals who engage in vigorous physical activity,116 but inconsistent results have also been reported.117–120 Strenuous physical activity, repeated head injuries, use of illicit performance-enhancing drugs, or chemicals used to treat football fields have all been discussed as potential explanations for such risk elevations.111,121 Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a newly defined neurodegenerative disease, often resulting from repeated head injuries, has been proposed as the underlying reason or the “correct” diagnosis for ALS cases observed among professional athletes and perhaps also among military veterans.122 Different levels of physical exercise (professional versus recreational) may have very different biological effects on neurodegeneration. This is in line with previous findings of an increased risk of ALS among professional football players,111–114 although not among high school players.119 Similarly, a large European case-control study showed a 51% lower risk of ALS for organized sport, but a 59% higher risk of ALS for professional sport.123 Further efforts to disentangle the different exposure patterns involved in professional sports as compared with recreational sports will be needed to better understand these findings. Although the hypothesis that athleticism contributes to ALS is intriguing, caution should be exercised in interpreting these findings, given the fact that the vast majority are based on small numbers of ALS cases.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4334292/

Get a clue.
 
Renae said:
How does retiring early help with ALS? It has nothing to do with the NFL...
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Until we know what causes ALS, I think your conclusion is premature.
 
Bucky said:
Until we know what causes ALS, I think your conclusion is premature.
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6 players in 10 years out of what, easily 6000 players having been on active roster? That's infinitesimal, that's a rounding error.
 
Renae said:
6 players in 10 years out of what, easily 6000 players having been on active roster? That's infinitesimal, that's a rounding error.
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I would like to see the comparable statistics of the NFL players and the general population myself.
 
Renae said:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4334292/

Get a clue.
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Did you read your own quote? It said
...59% higher risk of ALS for professional sport.123 Further efforts to disentangle the different exposure patterns involved in professional sports as compared with recreational sports will be needed to better understand these findings. Although the hypothesis that athleticism contributes to ALS is intriguing, caution should be exercised in interpreting these findings...
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I'd call that "the jury is still out."
 
Renae said:
You missed the last sentence. Reading is fundemental.
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Since it is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, ruling out repeated collisions to the head is a bit premature. No?
 
calamity said:
Since it is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, ruling out repeated collisions to the head is a bit premature. No?
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We don't KNOW what the cause is. Just speculation, it's POSSIBLE... that rigorous activities can contribute to a form of ALS, but that's not certain.
 
Renae said:
We don't KNOW what the cause is. Just speculation,
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Yes, we can agree on that.

it's POSSIBLE... that rigorous activities can contribute to a form of ALS, but that's not certain.
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This seems less likely to me than rigorous blows to the head perhaps contributing. But....we have no idea. We do, however, know that repeated blows to the head do cause long term brain diseases. So, there is that--even if ALS is not one of those diseases, subjecting people to repeated hits to the head for sport and entertainment is a problem.
 
calamity said:
Yes, we can agree on that.


This seems less likely to me than rigorous blows to the head perhaps contributing. But....we have no idea. We do, however, know that repeated blows to the head do cause long term brain diseases. So, there is that--even if ALS is not one of those diseases, subjecting people to repeated hits to the head for sport and entertainment is a problem.
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We need to outlaw:
Boxing
Martial Arts (contact with other participants)
Soccer
Baseball
Gymnastics
Skating, Ice/roller/boards
Football
Lacrosse
Trampolines
Snow skiing
Snowboarding
Rock Climbing
Sky Diving

As all of these activities have a much higher risk for head injuries which could raise ones risk of brain damage.
 
Renae said:
We need to outlaw:
Boxing
Martial Arts (contact with other participants)
Soccer
Baseball
Gymnastics
Skating, Ice/roller/boards
Football
Lacrosse
Trampolines
Snow skiing
Snowboarding
Rock Climbing
Sky Diving

As all of these activities have a much higher risk for head injuries which could raise ones risk of brain damage.
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I certainly would not recommend taking up boxing.
 
Renae said:
WE MUST MAKE LIFE SAFE!!! Helmets should be mandatory at all times. You never know, you might slip!
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So, are for legalizing heroin?
 
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