The larger body size of professional soccer players does not mean that the risk of catching atherosclerosis or cardiovascular disease is enhanced after they retire, as per a research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008.

It was remarked by Benjamin D. Levine, M.D., senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, that active players tend to easily prevent the progression of pre-diabetes from becoming real diabetes by following an active lifestyle.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Perhaps by remaining fit, the players were able to prevent the progression of pre-diabetes from becoming real diabetes,” said Benjamin D. Levine, M.D., senior author of the study and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. “The prevalence of obesity, using normal criteria, is really high when you look at NFL players.

“But the BMI is only a crude measure of fatness. For the athletic community it may be biased against very dense, muscular people who may have a high BMI but not as much fat. The BMI might not tell the whole story.”

This study was based on retired players from another era. The football players today are about 50 percent larger than they were a quarter of a century ago, said Levine, who is also professor of internal medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UT Southwestern. “Today, there is a lot of incentive for football players to get as big as possible through eating, extensive training or by using anabolic steroids and growth hormones. The criterion for success is that bigger is better.”

Whether current or recently retired players are at greater risk for cardiovascular events or death merits further study, given the larger body sizes of today’s NFL player, he said.

It was also found during the study that the retired National Football League (NFL) players had a significantly lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, and sedentary lifestyle when compared to other men.

The research details put forth at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Session, revealed that professional footballers who have larger bodies are not that prone to any risk of cardiovascular disease. Though the message was presented in a cautionary as well as hopeful manner but there is certainly good news for retired pro footballers and athletes, even though they consumed steroids during their active years.

The study showed that they do not increase the risk of the development of such a disorder. The study was conducted on a large number of 201 former NFL players in Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and San Fransisco.

From News-medical.net:

Compared to other men, retired National Football League (NFL) players had a significantly lower prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, sedentary lifestyles and metabolic syndrome. However, the NFL retirees had a higher prevalence of elevated cholesterol and impaired fasting glucose that could lead to diabetes.

The retired NFL players were assessed by a survey and health screening visit. Coronary atherosclerosis (buildups of fatty plaques that narrow the coronary arteries) was determined with computer tomography measurements of coronary artery calcium (CAC).

When researchers compared the former NFL players CAC scores to controls, they found little difference, with 46 percent of former players and 48 percent of controls having significant CAC scores. When compared to physically active Aerobic Center controls, retired NFL players had a greater body mass index (BMI) and waist size, but no difference in other cardiovascular risk factors or CAC scores.

The health of these players were then compared to those at the Dallas Heart Study and the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study during which the Coronary arthrosclerosis was determined by digital tomography measurements of the coronary artery calcium. The research details revealed that there is no difference in the amount of sub-clinical levels of arthrosclerosis in the ex-footballers as well as the ones kept in controlled environment. In this research, even the ethnicity and the lineman status was considered. This clearly showed that 46 percent of NFL players and 48 percent of Aerobic Centre Controls had no difference in the CAC scores or cardiovascular risk factors at all.

Out of the 3,693 letters sent for a recent survey of retired NFL players, 2,552 responded openly and about 20.3% of them admitted to have used steroids at one point in their careers. The survey was sent out to members of the NFL Retired Players Association and those who participated played during the 1980’s, when drug testing was still not done. From the survey, the majority of steroid users were offensive linemen or defensive linemen. These two groups also registered with having the highest number of injuries on several joints mainly involving the ligaments and cartilages.

From CBC Sports:

The injury patterns suggest that joint ligaments and cartilage, rather than tendons, might not adapt to muscle changes brought about by steroids, making them “weakest link in the chain,” said lead author Dr. Scott Horn of the UNC School of Medicine.

The survey indicated no steroid related increase in the risk of injury to the muscle (biceps and triceps) and no increase of injury to shoulders and tendons.

Based on previous studies, the researchers suspected that tendons might be at increased risk to cope with a rapid increase in muscle size and strength.

The findings of the research correlated the injuries caused by steroid use with other negative health effects through a “snowball effect”. This means that injuries that have occurred led to the development of more health problems later on in life. This was further determined when respondents who had used steroids also admitted to suffering various systemic diseases such as osteoarthritis and depression, and having a generally physically inactive lifestyle years after the injuries have occurred. The development of these medical entities which also include obesity and diabetes is gradual.