New Warm-Up Program Reduces Ligament Injury for Female Athletes

Knee injuries can be severe enough to sideline even the most well-trained athletes and women athletes seem especially prone to a type of noncontact knee injury caused by sudden stops, turns, or jumps.  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just published a study that may eliminate some of those injuries.  The trick to doing so is a special warm-up program that requires no special equipment or additional time. Read more

Boys’ Groin Injuries No Laughing Matter

Groin injuries are a classic schtick when it comes to slapstick comedy but when they come to a young boy’s real injury, it’s just not a laughing matter, according to Dr. Anthony Atala.  Atala has just released some recommendations for parents regarding appropriate protective attire for even the youngest athletes.  And, for those moments when injuries happen in spite of the best advance preparation, Atala’s described some common injuries to the groin area that parents need to be aware of, too. Read more

Athletic Kids Need Month-Long Break from Sports

Headlines everywhere scream of the obesity epidemic jeopardizing our kids’ health and happiness during the time in life they should be the most care free.  Children with excess pounds usually don’t have to worry about the ill effects of too much exercise but some kids are non-stop, athletic dynamos.  They play one sport after another, all year round, with little, if any, down time for their growing bodies to get some therapeutic rest and restoration. Read more

Growth Hormone for Athletic Performance Simply Mind Over Matter?

That’s the question behind a study recently conducted at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. And the evidence is overwhelming that people who think they are taking performance-enhancing drugs think their performance is actually enhanced as a result. Read more

Athletes with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Set Sights on Olympic Gold

A lot of people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) feel like they’ve run a marathon after picking up a few groceries, so now imagine working against ME/CFS, complete with post-exertional malaise, to make it where only the finest athletes even dream of getting - to the Olympic Games. Read more

Common OTC Pain Relievers Increase Muscle Mass in Weight Training

The findings of a recently conducted study seem to indicate that taking some common over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers may improve muscle mass when taken during a weight-training program. The study was conducted with the elderly in mind but the beneficial effect of the OTC medications may prove beneficial to astronauts, too. They experience decreased muscle mass during extended periods of weightlessness when in orbit. Read more

Curiosity Quenched About 8×8 Water Recommendation

Just as most of the rest of us have, two doctors at the University of Pennsylvania have always heard that we need to drink eight glasses containing eight ounces of water every day for optimum health, a theory often dubbed the 8×8 rule. But they did more than just drink the water. They set out to examine the health benefits associated with drinking so much water. Read more

HGH - All Hype, No Performance?

This certainly seems to be the case, at least under certain circumstances, according to a review of dozens of studies devised to compare the performance enhancing effects of human growth hormone (HGH) against athletes who were not given the so-called wonder drug. Read more

All Head Hits Dangerous On Football Field

Med Headlines - Football is a hard-hitting game that often involves hard hits to the helmet. Traditional wisdom says such hits to the head are more likely to cause concussions when the impact is of a certain magnitude or location.

However, the results of a study recently reported in a series of papers published in Neurosurgery’s online edition suggest any impact to the head can be dangerous.

University of North Carolina’s Kevin M. Guskiewicz, PhD, and his colleagues tested the theoretical thresholds for safety by using devices inside the helmets of 76 collegiate football players. The players were given clinical tests to measure the effects, if any, of helmet impacts.

Accelerometers and telemetry devices measured the impacts and clinical tests measured severity of concussive symptoms, postural stability, and neurocognitive function within the first 24 hours, the acute period, after receiving an injury that might cause concussion.

The researchers found no difference in the number or severity of concussions based on the location of the impact and no difference when the impacts were at high or low velocity.

The effects of linear and rotational acceleration were also considered with each helmet impact studied.

The theory that concussions are less likely to occur during times of “light” practice was also disproved. Light practice means wearing helmets only, no pads, during practice but the measurements of the helmet devices indicate the magnitude of helmet hits during practice is significantly higher than those sustained during game or scrimmage time.

Of more than 57,000 helmet impacts studied, 27% of them occurred during helmets-only practice and 50% occurred during practice with full pads. Only 22% of the helmet impacts studied took place during a game or scrimmage.

Study results seem to indicate that it is impossible to establish a threshold for impacts likely to cause concussive injury that can be applied universally to all football players.