DocTalk

Yao Ming's foot takes center stage. A metatarsal stress fracture will make a billion people notice if you're teh ehar tand soul of the home team in the Olympics. No pressure on Ming to rehab quickly.

There's more on the website. Thanks.

 

This week the web column doesn't talk about sports. It could since there are a plenty of current and former athletes dealing with injury and illness. Instead, it's all about the Hepatitis C outbreak in Las Vegas, where a clinic reused medical supplies instead of tossing them. It saddens me that events far from me geographically affect the trust my patients may provide when they need advice and medical care.

More on the web: www.MDdirect.org

 

The web entry this week gets back to sports related medicine. When the world's best tennis player starts the year with little energy in his game, his doctors looked for a cause and found it. Roger Federer is the latest victim of infectious mononucleosis. More on the web.

 

St. Patrick's Day and unfortunately the injured soul is Irish. David Feherty broke a few ribs when he was hit by a truck while bicycling. While his injuries are painful, they are fixable with time. Damages ribs are painful and pneumonia is a significant potential complication. More o nthe web.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

High ankle sprain is not a great term since it really doesn't involve the ankle joint directly. Most people understand that a routine ankle sprain is not a huge deal and recovery is pretty quick. How surprised will the Maverick fans be if Dirk Nowitski is lost for the season because of an "Ankle sprain"?

It's tough making prognostications from a press release, but hopefully, the web entry this week will explain why Mavs and the German National Team might be worried.

Thanks for reading.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

It's hard to change the course of a big ship, but the American Heart Association has changed its recommendations for bystander CPR.
Mouth to mouth breathing is no longer always part of resuscitation. I know that it's not necessarily a sports story, but for those of you who have witnessed a person collapse and wonder what you would do, the new standards may make it easier to help.

More on the website.

 

While Le Bron James is a veteran; it's hard to think of him as a young man in his early 20s. It's especially hard to see him with low back pain. That's an old person's disease. Unfortunately, back pain strikes young and old alike and there's plenty to do to make life a little easier (even without heading to the doctor or chiropractor). More on the website this week.

As an aside, the Olympic Torch Relay is under fire this week and it is definitely a different world than when I traveled with the torch around the world in 2004. Many of my colleagues are making the trek this year and I hope theymake it safely to Beijing.

Thanks for reading.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

Doc,
Know of any herbal, nonprescription remedies for my late-morning drowsiness? It usually hits around 10:30 to 11 a.m., almost to the point where I'm falling asleep at my desk.
Thanks.

 

Caffeine?

Seriously, you're asking for an herbal supplement that is an upper. Caffeine, a methyl xanthine, in what every form is as "herbal" as any other food ingredient. Within reason it is safe and if you believe the literature, a cup of coffee a day may be part of a prevention scheme for a variety of diseases from heart attack to stroke.

 

Your opinion, doc: Fish oil vs flaxseed oil?

 

I'm a flaxseed fan. Whole seed sprinkled on cereal or in a smoothie is a winner

 

Thanks, Doc, but caffeine makes me pee even more than I already do with all the water I drink. What's the flaxseed supposed to do -- you know, other than make my head grow three hat sizes?
Thanks,
Joe