Superior size and strength can mean championships, scholarships and million-dollar paydays for today’s athletes. But a comparison of professional baseball players and football players reveals that the larger professional athletes — specifically football linemen — are at greatly increased risk of cardiometabolic syndrome. These findings come on the heels of media reports suggesting that professional football players are twice as likely to die before age 50 as professional baseball players.

Researchers collected and studied the cardiometabolic syndrome parameters of 69 current professional football players and 155 current professional baseball players. Parameters studied included blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglycerides, waist circumference, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, insulin resistance and levels of alanine aminotransferase, an indicator of fatty liver disease.

“Most studies that have examined cardiometabolic risks in professional athletes have been conducted after athletes retire,” study lead author Dr. Michael Selden was quoted as saying. “This is one of the first to study athletes in the midst of their playing careers.

Presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, October 26, 2009

Source: Ivanhoe Newswire
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