RSS Feeds
Mortality from Renal Diseases Among Former College Athletes
Abstract
In a cohort study of 8393 men attending Harvard College between 1880 and about 1912, data on mortality from renal diseases were obtained from death certificates. Mortality from all renal diseases and from nephritis alone was compared by birth decade (1860-1869, 1870-1879, and 1880-1889) and athletic status in college (major athlete, minor athlete, or nonathlete). Differences in percentages of deaths attributed to renal diseases (underlying or contributory cause) among the three athletic groups were small and statistically insignificant. Among men with renal disease listed as the underlying cause of death, the mean age at death was significantly higher for athletes than for nonathletes. These findings do not support the belief that strenuous exercise (as in college athletics) has long-term adverse effects on the kidney.
Article and Author Information
-
▸From the Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
-
Supported in part by a predoctoral fellowship (5-F01MH43833-02) from the National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md., and by the Fund for Research and Teaching, Department of Nutrition, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.
-
▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to A. P. Polednak, Ph.D., Health Science Program, Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
-
- Received May 25, 1972.
- Accepted September 8, 1972.
