Saw this a few years ago -
https://www.auajournals.org/doi/10.1016/j.juro.2016.02.336 .
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"The mean age within the study cohort was 47.5 years (range 25.0-81.7) and mean age during competitive years was 24.6 years (range 18-47). Of the 597 bodybuilders with mortality data, 58 (9.7%) were reported dead and 539 living. Only 40 deaths were expected in this population based on age-matched data, yielding a standardized mortality rate (95% confidence interval) of 1.34 (1.10-1.88) for these competitors, which is higher than in the general population. The mean age of death was 47.7 years (range 26.6-75.4), and no significant difference in mortality rates was observed above the age of 50 (Figure 1). "
"CONCLUSIONS: Mortality rates of bodybuilders within the cohort were 34% higher than those in an age-matched general U.S. male population. The cause of this increased mortality is currently unclear, but supports the possibility that the use of performance enhancing drugs and the unique competitive training (e.g. extreme weight changes) may contribute to deaths among younger professional bodybuilders. Current work is focused on determining cause of death by linkage to the National Death Index."
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I wish I could find the other data that I think Gwartney posted that broke it down by era. You could see that the 90's and 2000's guys were really tilting the averages. Nothing that the casual observer couldn't figure out, but it's still interesting to see actual numbers put to it.
