December 19th, 2011 by Michael Kirsch, M.D. in News, Opinion
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The Cleveland Browns have been in the news this week, and not because of newfound success on the gridiron. While sports is not among my highest priorities, I have developed increasing interest over the years since professional sports is religion to so many here in Cleveland and in Ohio. Cleveland sports teams all enjoy great success, provided that success is not defined by victories. It’s not if you win or lose but how…
I watched the Cleveland Browns compete against the Pittsburgh Steelers two Thursdays ago. I cringed as I witnessed our young quarterback, Colt McCoy, take a blow to the head that could have landed the perpetrator a 10 year prison sentence had this act occurred on the street. I wasn’t worried that McCoy would have to miss the rest of the game. I feared that he might have to miss the rest of his life. Violence sells tickets.
If an activity requires a participant to don a helmet and a coat of armor, then clearly it is an unwise activity for a human to engage in.
McCoy was taken off the field and reentered the arena 2 plays later, after an exhaustive evaluation that was completed in about 100 seconds. Since everything in sports and medicine is now measured, we know that McCoy was sidelined for a total of Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*
July 28th, 2011 by GruntDoc in Health Tips, Research
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Courtesy of Virginia Tech-Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences:
National Impact Database
Adult Football Helmet Ratings – May 2011
A total of 10 adult football helmet models were evaluated using the STAR evaluation system for May 2011 release. All 10 are publicly available at the time of publication. Helmets with lower STAR values provide a reduction in concussion risk compared to helmets with higher STAR values. Based on this, the best overall rating of ‘5 Stars’ has the lowest STAR value. Group rankings are differentiated by statistical significance.
If you’re in the market to buy a loved one a football helmet, or just curious, go and have a look. It doesn’t take long, there are only 10 helmets on the list. Go to the list.
I got to this from ESPN’s Page 2: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
October 7th, 2010 by AndrewSchorr in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
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Nobody is in the hospital these days feeling good. Regulations have made it so sick people are hospitalized and not-so-sick people are usually outpatients. People who are horizontal are there to have procedures, take heavy duty meds, rest and, hopefully, get better.
Hospitals have increasingly put in sophisticated television systems so you can be in bed and distracted and entertained. But that is not restful for everyone. Here’s an example from this past weekend that stands out:
Mark Dantonio, the coach of the Big Ten’s Michigan State Spartan college football team, was diagnosed with a heart attack right after last week’s game. Boom. He was hospitalized. Boom. He had a stent put in to unblock at least one artery. This past Saturday he was still in the hospital resting and recovering, right? In the hospital, yes. Resting, no! Are you kidding? Keep the coach down during the big game against Wisconsin, a Big Ten rival? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
September 24th, 2010 by Dinah Miller, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
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In psychiatry, we’ve had a hard time drawing precise links between brain pathology and psychiatric disorders. We can do it for groups of people: “Disease X” is associated with changes in brain structure of “Brain Area Y” or metabolic changes in “Brain Area Z.” But it’s groups, not individuals, and it’s an association, not a cause-and-effect, or a definite. We still can’t use this information for diagnosis, and there are still patients with any given psychiatric diagnoses who will have brains where “Area Y” is the same size as those without the disorder. We’re learning.
From what I read in this New York Times article, Owen Thomas was a bright, talented young man with no history of psychiatric disorder and no history of known concussion. In April, he committed suicide — a tragedy beyond words.
Sometime people commit suicide and everyone is left to wonder: There was no depression, no obvious precipitant, no note left behind, and every one is left to wonder why. The guilt toll on the survivors is enormous, as is the grief for their families and communities. In this case, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the young man was apparently struggling with the stress of difficult school work and concerns about his team and employment.
Owen’s family donated his brain to Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. They discovered that Owen’s brain showed damage similar to that seen in older NFL players — he had a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*
I watched the Cleveland Browns compete against the Pittsburgh Steelers two Thursdays ago. I cringed as I witnessed our young quarterback, Colt McCoy, take a blow to the head that could have landed the perpetrator a 10 year prison sentence had this act occurred on the street. I wasn’t worried that McCoy would have to miss the rest of the game. I feared that he might have to miss the rest of his life. Violence sells tickets.
