Why Chris Borland’s Retirement Makes Sense, And Does Not Make Sense
By JEFFREY WARE, MD
Being an ardent football fan I was quite surprised by Chris Borland’s announcement that he would retire from the NFL. He is 24. I was still a fledgling medical student at 24.
Borland has decided to retire sooner rather than later because of a medical issue. Not a medical condition he has. But a medical condition he may acquire should he continue playing football. Borland has made a judgment call. He has decided that the risks of repeated head trauma outweigh the benefits and $$$$ of being an NFL player.
Sports-related concussions, also known as mild- traumatic brain injury (m-TBI), are a hot issue p...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 18, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: THCB Source Type: blogs
Food for Thought
The online journal Democracy is one of the best free things on Your Intertubes. The new edition is up and as always, I recommend you check it out. While there are several far more important issues I could comment on, for now I'll riff off of Michael Tomasky's speculations on the future of Foobaw.Like Tomasky, I'm a lifelong fan. It's just something Americans with Y chromosomes absorb through the pores, and I was into it as a little kid. But now that we know it's turning the players' brains into oatmeal, we have a major problem. We tell ourselves that the new concussion protocols that sideline players until their symptoms c...
Source: Stayin' Alive - September 16, 2015 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Immediate care in sport – time for a change
How confident would you be if you are taken out of your emergency room and transported to be pitchside caring for a critically injured athlete? Your only medical equipment is strapped to your waist in a small bag; you have a physio with you, there are no other Doctors, no nurses and no little red button to press for help. There are twenty thousand people watching you at the ground and you are live on the sports channel with a further million people watching on…
Time critical limb injury
The days of finding a local Doctor who happens to be nearby or a relative of the players to “cover a game” are over. Medical...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - September 8, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Fraser Brims Tags: Sports Medicine ICIR ICIS Immediate care Pitchside sport medicine Trauma Source Type: blogs
Concussion in Sport 2015
Concussion in rugby: An overview and ethical considerations – is a guest post by Tane Eunson – a student of the game (5th year M.B.B.S.)
Sports related concussions are in the spotlight more than ever with extensive media coverage and record settlements making headlines worldwide. As rugby’s showpiece quadrennial event fast approaches, we look at an overview of concussion in rugby and the ethical issues surrounding it.
To tackle this issue head on, we must first understand what concussion is. A panel of medical and neurological experts, the “Zurich Group”, at the 4th International Conference on Concussion in S...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - August 12, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Mike Cadogan Tags: Education Sports Medicine Concussion concussion in sport head injury rugby RWC2015 Tane Eunson Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 090
This study prospectively looks at 106 patients with either DVT or PE who were identified as low risk based on the Hestia criteria. All of the patients were started on rivaroxaban (a Factor Xa inhibitor) and none had VTE recurrence (while on anticoagulation), major bleeding events or death due to VTE. This study further supports outpatient management for low risk VTE but a randomized controlled trial is needed (keep your eye out for the MERCURY-PE study)
Recommended by Anand Swaminathan
Further reading: SGEM #126: Take me to the Rivaroxaban — Outpatient treatment of VTE (The Skeptics Guide to EM)
Research and critic...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - July 9, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jeremy Fried Tags: Airway Clinical Research Emergency Medicine Intensive Care Neurology R&R in the FASTLANE Respiratory Review critical care EBM Education recommendations research and reviews Source Type: blogs
Super Docs
Guest post by Tane Eunson – A student of the game (5th year M.B.B.S.)
As a typical kiwi bloke, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool rugby fanatic (pardon the sheep reference). So when opportunities with two Super Rugby franchises arose for me in the past year, I picked the ball up and sprinted for the posts.
As an ‘intern’ with the franchises, I was part of the ‘athletic performance’ teams. The hierarchical structures differed subtly within each team, but they both comprised the team doctor, two physiotherapists, two strength and conditioning coaches and a number of other interns in the varying disciplines. With regards ...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - June 19, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Mike Cadogan Tags: Medical Specialty Sports Medicine rugby Super Docs Super XV Tane Eunson Source Type: blogs
Lithium
I came across an impressive poem through an interpretation of the poem in the British Journal of General Practice.
Lithium
After the arc of ECT
and the blunt concussion of pills,
they gave him lithium to cling to—
the psychiatrist’s stone.
A metal that floats on water,
must be kept in kerosene,
can be drawn into wire.
(He who had jumped in the harbor,
burnt his hair off,
been caught hanging from the light.)
He’d heard it was once used
to make hydrogen bombs,
but now was a coolant for nuclear reactors,
so he broke out of hospital barefoot
and walked ten miles to meet me in the snow.
The interpretation can be ...
Source: Dr Shock MD PhD - April 17, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dr Shock Tags: Bipolar disorder Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, March 4, 2015
Discussion. The case, known as King v. Burwell, revolves around wording in the ACA’s provision on subsidies. Section 36B of the law says that “The ‘premium assistance amount’ is based on the cost of a ‘qualified health plan … enrolled in through an Exchange established by the State under [section] 1311 of the [ACA].'”
The Extra Cost Of Extra Weight For Older Adults. Bayou La Batre calls itself the seafood capital of Alabama. Residents here depend on fishing and shrimping for their livelihood, and when they sit down to eat, they like most things fried.
Your patients are rating you ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 4, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: MedPage Today Tags: News Heart Neurology Obesity Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 071
This study looks at the effect of institution of duty hour restrictions on the outcome of Medicare patients. Although the study is retrospective and derived from large database information, it gives us a peak into the bigger picture of duty hours regulations: patient outcomes. The study authors found no difference in any important outcomes. It is similarly unclear whether these restrictions have improved resident quality of education or quality of life. Large system wide changes duty hour restrictions should, in the future, be implemented not based on theory but actual data of improved outcomes. An accompanying editorial d...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - February 18, 2015 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Soren Rudolph Tags: Education Emergency Medicine Neurosurgery Pediatrics Resuscitation Trauma critical care examination Intensive Care R&R in the FASTLANE research and reviews Source Type: blogs
Women Who Serve: Who We Are
The concept of women as the gentler sex is hard to square with the military warrior culture. Husband hunter, lesbian, s., whore, manipulator, or too dumb to do anything else are the historical characterizations of women who serve and are changing far too slowly. No one is more surprised with this rancor than the young, naïve and innocent women who join the military with an eye on what the future may bring.
I wanted a chance at a better life. I wanted to be more than my surroundings dictated to me. I felt a duty to my country; to protect and preserve all the things I loved.
My time in the Army was one of the best exp...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - February 18, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Advocacy Women Veterans Women's Health Source Type: blogs
My Concussion Story…
Concussions are serious. This I know from personal experience. My concussions changed my view of life. Thumps on the head are like that.
My first concussion happened in a cyclocross race. The track had 2 grassy mounds, both about 3-feet high and in close succession. You approached them at speed. Physics dictate that going over mounds on a bike pushes your body forward. (Think front wheelie.) I had done them numerous times in practice. I thought to myself, John, you had better keep your weight back going over these things during the race.
The thing about thinking during a bike race is that it is not so easy. So I forgot abo...
Source: Dr John M - February 1, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
Eye Tracking Promising to be Highly Effective in Detecting Concussions
In patients presenting with a head injury it is still often difficult to diagnose a concussion, CT scans being the standard tool used to get to the final answer. Yet, even CT scans do not reveal a concussion every time. Now researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have presented a new eye tracking technique that may one day become a standard part of performing a brain injury analysis in the emergency room or even on the sidelines of football fields.
Abnormal eye movement has been known as a symptom of brain injury for a very long time, but objectively measuring its severity and correlating it to the extent of brain in...
Source: Medgadget - January 30, 2015 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: in the news... Source Type: blogs
Does my child have a concussion?
A concussion is an injury to the brain caused by a blow to the head (or to another part of the body that jolts the head). Two members of my immediate family have had concussions in the last 3 months. Ouch! Their recovery has been good, but slow.
Contrary to what I was taught in medical school, a child does not need to be knocked out, even briefly, to have a concussion. Most concussions do not involve a loss of consciousness.
As we learn more about how the brain works we are also learning more about what happens when the brain gets injured – and what to do about it. Our understanding of concussions is very different today...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - January 19, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Dr. Alan Greene Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Head & Brain Injuries Headache Safety Source Type: blogs
Traumatic Brain Injury and Drug Use—A Closer Look
It’s the big game. You’re running full speed toward the goal line. You have it in sight. You are focused. You are fast. This is it. BAM! You’ve been hit. This is not it. The ball is gone. The moment is passed. And you are on your back. Nothing is broken. But your brain has been rattled. That hit has led to a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
TBI happens when a bump, blow, jolt, or other head injury causes damage to the brain. Every brain injury, even a concussion, is a TBI. A concussion happens when the brain bumps the skull, causing mild damage, almost like a bruise. Usually a concussion causes a change in how the brai...
Source: NIDA Drugs and Health Blog - January 15, 2015 Category: Addiction Authors: The NIDA Blog Team Source Type: blogs
GOING THE DISTANCE meets SURFING FOR LIFE
Bioethical issues in Traumatic Brain Injury GOING THE DISTANCE: JOURNEYS OF RECOVERY is a documentary film about the lives of survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury. Directed by multi-Emmy Award winning filmmaker David L. Brown, the project is seeking funding for its finishing phase. This film has had multiple previews in collaboration with brain injury advocates. It has also been used in therapeutic TBI groups to gauge the communities' take on their depiction. An earlier film by the same director, SURFING FOR LIFE, reinforces that Brown, like any good film auteur, finds different ways of telling stories whose...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - December 16, 2014 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: September Williams, MD Tags: Health Care syndicated Source Type: blogs
