(Press-News.org) But diet is not the only culprit, says the Statement. There is little in the way of education or encouragement to help athletes appreciate the importance of good dental health on their training and performance, it says.
The Consensus Statement, which draws on a comprehensive review of the published evidence and a recent symposium on the lessons of the London 2012 Olympic Games, is intended as a call to action.
The UK and North American authors, all experts in dental health and sport and exercise medicine, point out that dental consultations accounted for almost a third of all medical visits at London 2012, and that demand has continued to increase at subsequent major competitive events.
Their review of the published evidence, which includes 39 studies on elite or professional sports men and women, showed that poor dental health is widespread: tooth decay (dental caries); gum disease (periodontal disease); enamel erosion, and infected wisdom teeth (pericoronitis) /impacted molars were the most commonly reported problems.
Tooth decay affected 15-75% of athletes; moderate to severe gum disease up to 15%; enamel erosion 36-85%; and pericoronitis/impacted molars 5-39%. Damage caused by trauma was reported by between 14-57% of athletes in high risk sports.
Athletes from rich countries were no less likely to be affected than those from poor countries, the data showed. And, overall, the dental health of athletes was on a par with that of non-athletes living in deprived communities.
Unsurprisingly, up to two thirds of those who had sustained trauma to their teeth said that this had adversely affected them. But up to 40% said that their dental health "bothered" them or affected their quality of life, while between one in 20 and one in five said that it had affected their performance.
There is a wealth of published evidence to show the impact of poor dental health on wellbeing, say the authors. "With clear psychosocial impacts of oral health, it would be surprising if training and performance were not affected in those athletes with poor oral health," they write.
And this could be especially important in competition, where marginal gains...or losses can make all the difference, they say.
Athletes with poor dental health are likely to suffer pain, difficulties sleeping and eating, systemic inflammation, a dent to their confidence and may be generally out of sorts, all of which could be detrimental to their performance, they suggest.
In a bid to explain the prevalence of poor dental health among athletes, the authors point to the preference for a high carb diet and acidic sports drinks during training and performance, the impact of which is likely to be worsened by a dry mouth during competition.
Eating disorders are also likely to be a factor, particularly in sports, such as boxing, horse riding, gymnastics, and long distance running, where body weight, composition, and aesthetics are crucial.
There has been little research on elite athletes' attitudes to dental health, but what there is suggests that their understanding of its importance is relatively poor. And it does not appear to be a priority for trainers and sporting bodies either, say the authors.
The steps needed to prevent poor dental health and maintain good mouth hygiene are simple and cheap, say the authors, who list them for each of the commonly reported conditions. But they need to be integrated at all levels, they say.
"To achieve a sustained effect, oral health should be embedded within other aspects of health promotion, taking into account the structural issues and inter-relationship of athletes within their sport and peer networks," they write. "National sport funders and policy organisations should take a lead in integrating such an approach," they add.
INFORMATION:
The findings suggest that family doctors may not be picking up the signs of lung cancer and investigating them as appropriately as they might, or promptly enough, say the researchers.
The UK lags behind other countries in survival rates for lung cancer, a gap that has largely been attributed to late diagnosis of the disease.
In a bid to find out more about the factors in primary care associated with these figures, the researchers analysed family doctors' (GPs') investigation of lung cancer between 2000 and 2013.
They used data from The Health Improvement Network (THIN), ...
SAN FRANCISCO – Four urban sections of the San Andreas Fault system in Northern California have stored enough energy to produce major earthquakes, according to a new study that measures fault creep. Three fault sections – Hayward, Rodgers Creek and Green Valley – are nearing or past their average recurrence interval, according to the study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA).
The earthquake cycle reflects the accumulation of strain on a fault, its release as slip, and its re-accumulation and re-release. Fault creep ...
1. Experts urge cautious use of experimental Ebola drugs
While a World Health Organization (WHO) advisory panel says it is ethical to use experimental medications and vaccines on Ebola patients, experts caution that these drugs are not without risks, and physicians must carefully triage patients or risk serious adverse events, according to a commentary being published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The WHO's epidemic-specific conclusion mandates that health care professionals employ particular ethical standards (fairness of dissemination, patient consent, physician nonmaleficence) ...
Philadelphia, October 14, 2014 -- High Value Care sub-scores from the Internal Medicine In-Training Examination (IM-ITE) reflect the importance of training medical residents to understand the benefits, harms, and costs of tests and treatments, according to a study published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.
The IM-ITE is a multiple-choice exam developed by the American College of Physicians (ACP) in collaboration with the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) to help residents along with their program directors assess their knowledge of internal medicine ...
Living close to a major road may increase women's risk of dying from sudden cardiac death, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
"It's important for healthcare providers to recognize that environmental exposures may be under-appreciated risk factors for diseases such as sudden cardiac death and fatal coronary heart disease," said Jaime E. Hart, Sc.D., study lead author and an instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. "On a population level, living near a major roadway ...
MINNEAPOLIS – A new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) recommends guidance on how doctors should evaluate the full picture—from symptoms, family history and ethnicity to a physical exam and certain lab test results—in order to determine what genetic tests may best diagnose a person's subtype of limb-girdle or distal muscular dystrophy. The guideline is published in the October 14, 2014, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American ...
Bottom Line: Adults in the United States suffered from approximately 14 million major medical conditions attributable to smoking.
Author: Brian L. Rostron, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Center for Tobacco Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Md., and colleagues.
Background: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease in the United States. Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ and organ system in the body. The authors estimated major medical conditions (morbidity) attributed to smoking in 2009.
How the Study Was Conducted: The authors ...
Bottom Line: A study of teenagers suggests there is no association between physical activity (PA) and the development of depressive symptoms later in adolescence.
Author: Umar Toseeb, Ph.D., of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and colleagues.
Background: Depression contributes to the global burden of disease. A reduction in the associated costs – both personal and financial – would benefit society. The onset of depression is thought to happen in adolescence or earlier so preventive measures during this period of life could be beneficial. PA ...
Bottom Line: In patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), increased cerebrospinal fluid levels of orexin, which helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, may be associated with sleep deterioration, which appears to be associated with cognitive decline.
Authors: Claudio Liguori, M.D., of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, and colleagues.
Background: AD is a neurodegenerative disease marked by progressive memory loss and cognitive decline and often complicated by sleep disturbance. Orexin A is part of the orexinergic system and it helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle ...
Results of a small clinical trial suggest that a chemical derived from broccoli sprouts — and best known for claims that it can help prevent certain cancers — may ease classic behavioral symptoms in those with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).
The study, a joint effort by scientists at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, involved 40 teenage boys and young men, ages 13 to 27, with moderate to severe autism.
In a report published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during ...
