The National Football League (NFL) has commissioned a study that where the results indicated about a quarter of their players may experience brain problems by the time they retire.

The NFL approached the Segal Group in order to commence the study. The group used a database of the medical history of retired players to form their findings.

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The summary of the findings were then submitted to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania.

The study states that one in four player may experience dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, and other possible cognitive impairments after they play in the league. This is mostly due to the fact that players butt helmets with each other.

It went on to approximate that 28 percent of the overall player population would be diagnosed with cognitive impairment during their lifetime. 14 percent of these will experience Alzheimer's, while the other 14 percent will develop moderate dementia over the next 65 years.

They also suspect that the long-term emotional stress that they experience can cause Alzheimer's due to high blood pressure. This is because cortisol is dumped into the body when they are under a lot of stress.

The players will also experience these at a much younger age than the general population.

While the study reveals the dangers of the physical and violent sport, the NFL did not commission the study for the sake of the player's safety.

Instead, they did due to a former lawsuit between players and the NFL.

In 2013, more than 4,500 players sued the league, accusing them of hiding the dangers of brain injuries while profiting from the violence in the game. The NFL reportedly paid US $760 million to settle.

The NFL commissioned the study in order to see if the money that they paid was enough to pay the claims.

TagsNFL, Segal Group, Mental Problems, Brain Problems, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's