DocTalk

DocTalk --

Just have to comment on the fact anyone would suggest Al Harris could return within a matter of 3-4 weeks seems absurd to me, given the fact Chris Simms seemed to have suffered the exact same injury and that sidelined him for 13 weeks at the minimum. I'd think folks would have enough common sense to know this.

 

I agree that it's hard to beleive, but while Simms and Harris had sleen injuries, the severity was different. Spleen injuries are graded 1-5 depending on whetehr the capsule of the spleen is intact, and whether the injury involves the blood vessels that supply the spleen. Only the mos tsever spleen injuries require surgery anymore; most are treated by observation. Simms needed to have his spleen removed and Harris is being treated by observation.

Usually, observation time is 6 weeks but the data is supposed to be used to guide peopl with normal professons. Football doesn't qualify as normal.

 

Only true golf fans would have known about Erik Compton this summer when he received his heart transplant. Perhaps a few more read about the golf cart waiver he received fro Q school later this month. Perhaps more people should know about how this athlete faced a lifetime of adversity and is still fighting. More on the web.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

In light of Tony Romo, it might have been interesting to talk about finger fractures, dislocations and other hand injuries (I'm giving that lecture later this year at UW-L). However, it's just a finger. Alexei Cherepanov's sudden death from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a reminder that even elite athletes can have lethal illnesses. More on the web.

www.MDdirect.org

 

It must be the night shift that takes its toll but I was able to avoid temptation to write about this weekend's binge of alcohol related issues in the sports press. Instead, it's time to review ankle sprains and wonder why an NBA player like Deron Williams needs an MRI while Joe Plumber doesn't even get an x-ray. More on the web.

Thanks for reading,

Ben

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

Most of the injuries that fell athletes are fixable and while they may end a career, the athlete has a whole life yet to experience. This week's web entry deals with Seve Ballesteros and his fight with brain cancer. While the prognosis may not be great, perhaps he has one more sand save left in him. More on the web.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

Doc:

Great to see you for lunch today. Hope all your sessions were enlightening.

Among other things, SportsJournalists.commers, I learned that DocTalk remembers the Edmonton Flyers, and that Joe the Plumber would be much better off leaving Toledo for Alberta.

 

The Flyers were the Detroit Red Wing farm team in the old WHL and shared the Edmonton Gardens with the Oil Kings. If memory serves, the owner of the oil Kings was Wild Bill Hunter, one of forces behind the founding of the WHA.

 

It was a tough week to be a quarterback in the NFL. I guess that every week is tough not knowing if you'll be able to come back and play the next game...unless you're Brett Favre. It's amazing how much trauma the body can withstand and still be able to line up for the next play.

More on the web www.Mddirect.org/blog

Thanks for reading.

 

Sometimes headlines outside the world of sports need to be addressed. The American Heart Association and the New England Journal of Medicine both reported that Crestor, a cholesterol lowering drug, might cut the heart attack rate in healthy people by 44%.

This may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if something is too good to be true, it requires scrutiny and time to insure that the results stand up.

I promise to get back to sports, injuries and drugs but this week, it's medical research.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

A little late this week with the web entry. Vacation is always a good thing and this time it also provided the subject for the blog.

The American Heart Association guidelines recommended that the time from door to heart catheterization for a patient presenting with a heart attack be less than 90 minutes. All well and good but what happens if the patient is 8 miles high over the Atlantic.

There are plenty of injury stories from the NFL this week and I promise to address them by the weekend. Thanks for your continued support.

 

The inspiration for this week's entry came from one of our own at SportsJournalists.com, who asked a question about getting an MRI of an knee. CTs and MRIs have become almost routine, eventhough they cost an arm and a leg (even when trying to save the same limbs).

More on the web at www.MDdirect.org/blog