Reducing lifelong disability from sports injuries in children
2011-06-21
(Press-News.org) To protect children from lifelong injuries in sports, we need a public health approach similar to that mounted against smoking and drunk driving, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj110634.pdf.
The annual rate of catastrophic injury in sports or recreational activities is 6.9 per 100 000 participants, and many of the injured are children and youth under age 21. Nearly 500 Ontarians alone are hospitalized each year from hockey injuries and concussions in particular can have long-term impacts on health and quality of life.
"Reducing lifelong disability from sports injuries in children and youth demands a public health solution similar to that used to combat smoking and drunk driving," write Drs. Alun Ackery, University of Toronto, and Allan Detsky, Mount Sinai Hospital, with CMAJ Editor-in-Chief Paul Hébert and the editorial writing team. "A coordinated, multifaceted approach involving awareness, education and rule changes is required."
It is important to rest when injured, but our society often admires athletes who continue to play while injured.
"Unnecessary risk taking and violent physical contact in sport need to be 'denormalized' through education and awareness campaigns," state the authors.
They suggest that changing rules regarding risk and injury will work. Parents can pressure sports organizations to change rules, former professional athletes who suffered debilitating injuries can help, and the medical professional can provide evidence about what how to prevent injury and create guidelines for recovery times before returning to play.
"This is about keeping our young players healthy to enjoy the rest of their lives," the authors conclude. "Unnecessary lifelong disability will not help anyone, least of all a minor who cannot fully appreciate the consequences of serious injury."
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-06-21
1. For Hypertension Patients, Single Reading Not Enough to Assess Blood Pressure Control
Using Multiple Readings Increases Measurement Accuracy
For patients with hypertension, physicians typically use a single in-office blood pressure (BP) reading to assess how well medical interventions are working and then adjust hypertension medications accordingly. However, some patients may experience a phenomenon known as "white coat" hypertension, meaning they have a higher than normal BP due to the anxiety associated with the office visit. Researchers sought to determine how ...
2011-06-21
A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by University of Calgary Faculty of Kinesiology researcher Dr. Carolyn Emery and colleagues has shown that when bodychecking is introduced into Bantam ice hockey there is no difference between overall injury rates or concussion, regardless of whether players have prior bodychecking experience in Pee Wee.
Emery, co-chair of the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre at the University of Calgary Sport Medicine Centre, began by comparing injury and concussion rates in Alberta where bodychecking is allowed, ...
2011-06-21
A shorter pause in CPR just before a defibrillator delivered an electric shock to a cardiac arrest victim's heart significantly increased survival, according to a study in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers found the odds of surviving until hospital discharge were significantly lower for patients whose rescuers paused CPR for 20 seconds or more before delivering a shock (the pre-shock pause), and for patients whose rescuers paused CPR before and after defibrillation (the peri-shock pause) for 40 seconds or more, compared to patients with ...
2011-06-21
In a landmark newly published study (http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2011/985345/), scientists from State University, New York working collaboratively with researchers from HairGenesis, report the positive outcome of a set of basic science experiments designed to test an advanced hair regrowth formula in a cell-based model of human hair follicle keratinocytes. Combining naturally derived 5 alpha-reductase inhibitors with highly potent anti-inflammatory agents, the scientific team showed how their proprietary composition could potentially outperform single agent hair ...
2011-06-21
Chapel Hill, NC – Ongoing research into the problem of how Hepatitis C becomes a chronic disease has uncovered a deeper mystery about its sister strain, Hepatitis A.
Hepatitis C is a continuing public health problem, which is difficult to measure because symptoms occur months to years after infection. The World Health Organization estimates as many as 2 to 4 million people in the United States may have chronic Hepatitis C, and most do not know they are infected. More than a third of those who are long-term carriers may develop chronic liver disease or liver cancer.
"Hepatitis ...
2011-06-21
An exercise training program worked better than a commonly used beta blocker, significantly improving — even curing — patients with a debilitating heart syndrome, according to research published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) — called "The Grinch Syndrome" because most patients have a heart that's "two sizes too small" — affects about 500,000 Americans, primarily young women.
POTS is characterized by a rapid increase in heartbeat of more than 30 beats per minute or a heart rate that exceeds ...
2011-06-21
Millions of adults with peripheral artery disease are not receiving the medications needed to reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke and death, according to research in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Most patients are not receiving recommended therapies such as cholesterol and blood pressure-lowering medications, the study's authors found. Peripheral artery disease is the result of atherosclerosis, or blockages in the arteries in the legs caused by plaque. People with this disease have a significantly increased risk of having either a non-fatal ...
2011-06-21
For grownups, drifting off for an afternoon snooze is often easier said than done. But many of us have probably experienced just how simple it can be to catch those zzz's in a gently rocking hammock. By examining brain waves in sleeping adults, researchers reporting in the June 21 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, now have evidence to explain why that is.
The study finds that napping on a slowly swinging bed really does get us to sleep faster. To the researchers' surprise, rocking also changes the nature of our sleep, encouraging deeper sleep.
"It ...
2011-06-21
Scientists have developed a new method to make proteins form crystals using 'smart materials' that remember the shape and characteristics of the molecule. The technique, reported today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, should assist research into new medicines by helping scientists work out the structure of drug targets.
The process of developing a new drug normally works by identifying a protein that is involved in the disease, then designing a molecule that will interact with the protein to stimulate or block its function. In order to do this, scientists ...
2011-06-21
New research at the University of Leicester is investigating a growing fascination with 'chav' culture among middle-class gay men in Britain.
Professor Joanna Brewis, from the University of Leicester School of Management, UK, will conduct primary empirical research into gay class tourism following publication of findings reported last year in the journal Sociology.
Research she carried out with her former colleague Professor Gavin Jack, now at La Trobe University in Australia, revealed the complex consumer patterns of middle-class homosexual men who go 'slumming' at ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Reducing lifelong disability from sports injuries in children
