September 2019

An Irish team conducted and reported a review of 13 studies to systematically investigate the cardiovascular health profile of retired field-based athletes.
A total of 4350 male retired field-based athletes from football and soccer were included. Eight studies compared retired athletes with control groups. Retired athletes had elevated systolic blood pressure in 4 of 6 studies; approximately 50% of studies found greater high-density lipoprotein, approximately 80% found lower triglyceride levels, and all studies found greater low-density lipoprotein for retired athletes compared with controls. The prevalence and severity of coronary artery calcium and carotid artery plaque were similar to controls. Retired linemen had double the prevalence of cardiometabolic syndrome compared with nonlinemen.

Orthop J Sports Med. 2019 Aug 19;7(8):2325967119862750. doi: 10.1177/2325967119862750. eCollection 2019 Aug.