Medicine and science in sports and exercise
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Med Sci Sports Exerc · Jun 2015
Case ReportsAnalysis of a severe head injury in World Cup alpine skiing.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death in alpine skiing. It has been found that helmet use can reduce the incidence of head injuries between 15% and 60%. However, knowledge on optimal helmet performance criteria in World Cup alpine skiing is currently limited owing to the lack of biomechanical data from real crash situations. ⋯ A unique combination of high-definition video footage and accurate measurements of landmarks in the slope made possible a high-quality analysis of head impact velocity in a severe TBI case. The estimates can provide crucial information on how to prevent TBI through helmet performance criteria and design.
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Med Sci Sports Exerc · Jun 2015
Older firefighters are susceptible to age-related impairments in heat dissipation.
The aging-induced reduction in whole-body heat loss (HL) capacity generates concerns regarding the continued participation of older workers in occupations such as firefighting. We compared HL and change in body heat storage (S) during intermittent exercise in warm/dry and warm/humid conditions among older male firefighters (OLDER, n = 9, age = 54.7 ± 2.1 yr), older (age-matched) nonfirefighters (NON-FF, n = 9, age = 52.8 ± 1.2 yr), and young firefighters (YOUNG, n = 6, age = 26.7 ± 0.8 yr). ⋯ Older firefighters and age-matched nonfirefighters demonstrate similar HL and S during work in the heat. Moreover, HL is significantly reduced in older compared to younger firefighters during exercise in both warm/dry and warm/humid conditions. Consequently, older firefighters may be more susceptible to thermal injury while on duty than their younger counterparts.
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Med Sci Sports Exerc · May 2015
Patellofemoral joint stress during running with alterations in foot strike pattern.
This study aimed to quantify differences in patellofemoral joint stress that may occur when healthy runners alter their foot strike pattern from their habitual rearfoot strike to a forefoot strike to gain insight on the potential etiology and treatment methods of patellofemoral pain. ⋯ Altering one's strike pattern to a forefoot strike results in consistent reductions in patellofemoral joint stress independent of changes in step length. Thus, implementation of forefoot strike training programs may be warranted in the treatment of runners with patellofemoral pain. However, it is suggested that the transition to a forefoot strike pattern should be completed in a graduated manner.
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Med Sci Sports Exerc · Apr 2015
Physical activity and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a prevalent urologic disorder among men, but its etiology is still poorly understood. Our objective was to examine the relation between physical activity and incidence of CP/CPPS in a large cohort of male health professionals. ⋯ Findings from this study, the first large scale and most comprehensive study to date on this association, suggest that higher levels of leisure-time physical activity may lower risk of CP/CPPS in middle-age and older men.
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Med Sci Sports Exerc · Apr 2015
Novel adaptations in motor cortical maps: the relation to persistent elbow pain.
Unilateral elbow pain results in sensorimotor dysfunction that is frequently bilateral, affects local and remote upper limb muscles, and persists beyond resolution of local tendon symptoms. These characteristics suggest supraspinal involvement. Here, we investigated 1) the excitability and organization of the M1 representation of the wrist extensor muscles and 2) the relation between M1 changes and clinical outcomes in lateral epicondylalgia (LE) (n = 11) and healthy control subjects (n = 11). ⋯ This finding may have broad implications for the control of the wrist extensor muscles in LE. These data provide evidence that cortical organization may be maladaptive in LE and suggest that reorganization may be associated with persistence/recurrence of pain.