Public Health and Sports Medicine

April 18, 2013 by 5 Comments

Image

San Diego at night

I am in the Columbus airport on my way to San Diego for the AMSSM Meeting and I’m excited. OK, truth:  I’m on the ground in Columbus and ‘weather’ is preventing our flight taking off to Chicago, where I will, in theory, get my connecting flight to San Diego. And that’s not too exciting.

But, the meeting:  the research abstracts to be presented at the meeting look great, and I’ll be blogging about the event more in the next several days (if I make it there………)

My mind is still thinking of the events that occurred at the Boston Marathon three days ago, and I am looking forward to the London Marathon this weekend, which I hope goes off without a hitch.  I continue to read stories of the heroism of the Boston medical community, from the professionals in the finish line medical tent to the nearby hospitals, where the trauma was nearly overwhelming.  And I have read sobering stories, from the litany of terrorist events that have impacted sport to the analyses that suggest planning for marathons, the ‘most democratic of sporting events,’ may be irrevocably changed.

Many of us in sports medicine are involved in on-site game coverage, including the coverage of mass events, and the roles we play in these venues are, indisputably, exceedingly important.  For some of us, this is our core professional mission.  For me, it is a secondary role.  Most of my days and evenings are spent in clinic, seeing patients referred to me, or teaching students and trainees, or in pursuing medical research.  Nights and weekends will then find me at times covering a basketball or American football game at Bexley High School or Ohio Dominican University.  Over the years I have found myself covering mass events in the medical tents at the Big Sur Marathon, San Jose Half Marathon, the Big Kahuna Triathlon, local wrestling tournaments, and the Boston Marathon.

The Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine has published articles in the recent past on mass event coverage and prevention of illness in athletes, and I commend them to you for your consideration. Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest Tagged with , , ,

NOT Sports Medicine

April 16, 2013 by 4 Comments

I don’t think any of us in sports medicine got into the field expecting to be involved in an event like that which transpired in Boston yesterday.

Image

Map of Boston Bombings

Like many people around the world, I became riveted to TV, internet newsfeeds, and Social Media yesterday as I tried to make sense of what was occurring in Boston:  at 2:50 p.m., a little over four hours after the start of the Boston Marathon, two bombs exploded near the finish line, creating a chaotic scene resulting at this moment in three deaths and over 100 casualties.  A scene of sporting joy and celebration had been turned into mayhem.

In the days ahead and as the investigation into this event unfolds, we will likely learn ‘who’ was behind this and for what supposed purpose.   It is my hope that ‘they’ become a footnote in history, and that instead the names of the victims and the athletes and the first responders persist in memory.

Boston has played a big part in my life.  I went to university and medical school in Boston, and all told have lived about a dozen years of my life in that city.  When you live there, the Boston Marathon becomes part of the background of your life.  Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest Tagged with ,

Achilles Tendon Ruptures and Kobe Bryant’s Injury

April 13, 2013 by

Image

Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson Wikimedia

I woke up this morning to hear very sad news that occurred in the NBA last night:  Kobe Bryant has ruptured his Achilles tendon.

Kobe, who turns 35 this year, is one of the most recognized athletes in the world (maybe one of the few things that China and the USA can agree on). He had been leading his team to crucial victories as they were making a playoff run when he succumbed to this not uncommon injury in the middle aged athlete.

As he is quoted saying, he made a move he had executed a ‘million times’ when he felt like someone had kicked him in the leg, and he subsequently crumpled to the ground.  This is the classic history one might obtain when caring for an athlete with such an injury.  If you watch the video, you’ll see Kobe perform a classic move which can result in a ruptured tendon:   his left leg  pushes back  while he powerfully tries  to accelerate around the defensive player; this eccentric contraction is followed by a step and immediate inability to bear weight, and he falls to the ground. Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest Tagged with , , ,

AMSSM 2013 Conference in San Diego

April 11, 2013 by

The American Medical Society of Sports Medicine (AMSSM) is having its annual meeting in beautiful San Diego, California this year beginning April 17.  We’re less than a week away and very excited for what promises to be a great conference.

As the new editor for the CJSM blog, I am looking forward to meeting new people and seeing old faces, from the Executive Editor of CJSM (and former blog editor) Chris Hughes (a new friend) to people like William Meehan, one of the recipients of this year’s AMSSM Young Investigator Grants and an old and dear friend. Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest Tagged with ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →