CJSM and concussions — in the news

June 29, 2020 by Leave a comment

As 2020 rolls on and COVID dominates, quite rightly, much of the conversation in sports medicine, important research continues on topics of concern that have been present a lot longer than the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus.

CJSM prides itself on publishing a large number of primary research articles, which often get considerable media buzz. I wanted to share with you today two recent CJSM publications that have caught the attention of the lay press and are likely to have a significant and transformative impact on sports medicine practice.  The two research articles both address a long-standing concern of sports medicine — concussion in sport.

The first such article was published in our March 2020 edition: Distribution of Head Acceleration Events Varies by Position and Play Type in North American Football, a study whose team of authors primarily comes from Purdue University in the United States.  This pilot study contributes to the literature of risk mitigation in contact sport — how might we lower the incidence of concussion in a sport like North American football?  The findings were interesting enough to command the attention of Forbes magazine.

John Miller of the Buffalo Bills demonstrating a ‘2-point’ or ‘up’ stance. Photo Erik Drost, Wikimedia

This study evaluated the number of head acceleration events (HAEs) based on position, play type, and starting stance.  The most significant outcomes were reported for offensive linemen.  Offensive linemen in North American football have typically begun plays in a ‘down’, or what is known as a 3- or 4- point stance, as opposed to an ‘up’ or a 2-point stance. The position taken at the start of the play is sometimes dictated by what type of play, run vs. pass, may be run. Read more of this post

Filed under Concussion in Sport, Youth Sport

Part 2 — How SARS-CoV-2 is transforming sports medicine

May 30, 2020 by

Drs. Jim Miller (ready for work), Phatho Zondi (on her mountain bike, dressed for COVID), and Andy Peterson (rocking the ESPN sportscaster look)

This is the second in a series of special podcasts CJSM is publishing.  We have been catching up with sports medicine clinicians from around the globe and chatting with them about the myriad ways the COVID19 pandemic is changing the professional and personal landscapes they inhabit.

I hope you were able to listen to part 1 of the series, in which we interviewed CJSM editors Chris Hughes of the UK and Hamish Osborne of NZ.

Today, we get the chance to circle to other parts of our world, beginning with South Africa, where we catch up with Phathokuhle Zondi MBChB, MSc, MBA, the CEO of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa and the Past-President of the South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA).  Then we head to the United States, where we interview physicians Jim Miller in Virginia and Andy Peterson in Iowa.  Dr. Miller is a busy sports and family medicine physician who is heavily involved in the care of swimming athletes, working with both USA Swimming and FINA.  Dr. Peterson is a pediatrician who is both Team Physician for the University of Iowa and a member of the Board of Directors for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM).

The stories they share make for a compelling podcast.  I hope you enjoy listening to these stories as much as I did when interviewing these guests.

COVID and sports medicine is a novel subject–a relationship, really, which is bound to change over the next months and years, as we begin to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 virus and as sports begin to open up.  There will surely be more podcasts coming investigating what we are yet to discover.

Head to iTunes to subscribe to the CJSM podcast or to our journal website, where you can also find all 42 of our podcasts to date. Enjoy!

Filed under CJSM Podcasts Tagged with ,

How the SARS-CoV-2 Virus is Transforming Sports Medicine

May 22, 2020 by 1 Comment

You may be one of our loyal readers in the UK about to begin a three-day bank holiday, or one of our USA readers about to enjoy your own long weekend celebrating Memorial Day.

Or you may be one of our many readers in other spots of the globe going into a ‘regular’ weekend, but what does any of this mean anymore?  Two day weekend, three day weekend?  Might we not even have work to go back to, and who is traveling anywhere these days?

In the COVID era time itself seems to have changed, and it’s that broad, transforming effect caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, happening to us all, that we explore in a pair of new CJSM podcasts.

In the first episode of this ‘COVID themed’ series, we talk with two editors of CJSM — our Editor-in-Chief Christopher Hughes MBBS, Msc and Associate Editor Hamish Osborne MBChB, MMedSci.

Dr. Hughes lives and practices sports medicine in the United Kingdom, and Dr. Osborne does the same in New Zealand.  They both wear several ‘hats,’ ranging from the professional (head team physician, academic, clinician) to the personal (spouse and parent).  Both share their unique perspectives on how their lives, and their nations’ lives, have been transformed in these few months we have all been dealing with this novel virus.

I invite you to visit our podcasts on iTunes or at our journal website — this weekend, download and listen to these interviews with two physicians on opposite sides of the globe.  And keep your eyes posted for the next podcast, our 42nd, coming in rapid order. We’ll get a chance to ask other doctors in other parts of the globe about their lives.

Stay healthy!

Filed under CJSM Podcasts Tagged with ,

CJSM Journal Club — Nondisclosure of concussion symptoms by athletes

May 11, 2020 by

Jason Zaremski MD, au courant with medical clothing styles circa 2020. Go Gators!

Our May 2020 issue has recently published, and as ever our Jr. Assoc. Editor Dr. Jason Zaremski is ready to share his pick for the newest CJSM Blog Journal Club.

Concussion Symptom Underreporting Among Incoming National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I College Athletes is the subject for today’s blog post.

Dr. Zaremski is himself a physician at The University of Florida, well known for its Division 1 College Athletic program, the Florida Gators. Whether we treat collegiate athletes, pros, or children, we in sports medicine ALL have an interest in addressing the issue of concussion nondisclosure.

Thanks to the authors for this timely study, and thanks to Dr. Zaremski for your ongoing contributions in this journal club.

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Jason Zaremski, MD

Introduction:  As we enter the early stages of the summer and approach a “new normal” with regards to sports, it is incumbent upon sports medicine team physicians to be vigilant as we bring freshman athletes to college campuses with potentially different methods to screen and perform pre-participation physical examinations. While dealing with the new challenges COVID will pose, including the possibility of conducting assessments remotely, clinicians will need, as always, to obtain accurate historical information in order to care for our student-athletes. With that in mind, we present the May 2020 Journal Club on Concussion Symptom Underreporting Among Incoming National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I College Athletes by Dr Fiona Conway and colleagues.

Purpose: To examine concussion knowledge and the relationship of knowledge to reasons for concussion symptom nondisclosure in NCAA Division one incoming athletes. Read more of this post

Filed under Concussion in Sport, General Interest, Injury Prevention, Journal Club

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