DocTalk

It's unusual for healthy athletes to have ulcers, let alone bleed from them. Long distance runners can develop issues with blood supply to their intestine and have bleeding, but it's hard to categorize baseball as high endurance. More about Ichiro on the web.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

Sport often may give insight into life...but sometimes it doesn't. This weekend, Kenny Perry fails to close out a win giving Angel Cabrera the opportunity to seize victory. Similarly the University of Miami lost focus allowing Boston U to win. Somebody wins, somebody loses.

Medicine and life is different. When bad things happen to people, even good care may result in a losing effort. While things may look promising early on, the game isn't over until the final putt is sunk or the buzzer goes off. Death isn't fair, especially when initial treatments appear to be working and things decompensate.

There's more in this week's web posting. Thanks again for reading.

 

Young people aren't supposed to have heart attacks, though the definition of young keeps aging as I do. But young people who were elite athletes should be immune from a disease whose risk factors include obesity and smoking. But Danny Ainge is in the hospital getting cathed and stented for an MI and I hope he recovers quickly.

The Celtic press release talked about his "minor" heart attack. I take exception with the term. There's more on the web site.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

This week's web story is about corneal abrasions, courtesy of Channing Frye. It's not glitzy injury, but a relatively common one that causes significant pain and fear. we only get two eyes and even minor injuries can cause significant anxiety in patients.

There are other interesting medical happenings in the world of sport this week. William Perry is back in the hospital with Guillan Barre syndrome, Leon Powe tore an ACL and medial meniscus, Michael Crabtree is recovering from a Jones fracture of his 5th meteatrsal and Xavier Nady has an elbow ligament sprain. Add Ryan Doumit's scaphoid fracture and Jed Lowrie's wrist and future storylines are there to be told.

As always, I am thankful for those who have called or emailed with questions. Hopefully, the answers were helpful.

 

Because of popular demand, or at least the four people who emailed about it, there is a posting about Guillain Barre on the website.

Cheers!

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

The speed that the swine flu virus has started to spread around the world is impressive and certainly has invaded more countries than the most recent bird flu epidemic. Perhaps it's because the swine flu virus can be spread by person to person contact. Perhaps it's because travel has made the world so small and international borders ineffective.

The spread of the disease in the US, Canada, Europe and New Zealand will reveal how well prepared governments are to tackle the challenge of disease control. More on the website.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

The shoulder is the most common joint in the body to dislocate, onlt because it is the most mobile and perhaps the most poorly designed. Cubs' Aramis Ramirez found that fact out this weekend in the series against the Brewers. He now gets to decide whether to spend a couple of months rehabbing the shoulder to play later this summer and then get the shoulder fixed or just get it done now and miss the rest of the season.

More about shoulders this week on the web.

Thanks for reading and thanks too for the questions about Manny and HCG.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

The operating room schedule was pretty full this weekend with MLB and NHL players leading the parade for arthroscopic surgery. Pick a joint and it was scoped this weekend. The ability to invade smaller and smaller joints has made life better, not only for the pros, but for regular folk as well. More about scoping this week on the website.

Thanks for reading.

 

It was with great sadness that I wrote the latest column on the website. Perhpas we can learn from Mike Tyson's grief.

www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

I spent the goodly part of the morning looking at EKGs and deciphering the squiggly lines on the paper that allow us to look at he heart. Doctors and patients often forget that life and death may depend upon getting those squiggles right. More on the web.

Thanks for reading.
www.MDdirect.org/blog

 

DocTalk,

I hate going to the doctor but I'll certainly consider it for this annoying (albeit minor) problem I've had the last 10 days or so. I was leaning back in my chair and it tipped over, and I fell relatively hard on my neck/upper back. Ever since, it has been sore, but hasn't really affected me much -- only when I wake up in the morning, and when I sleep. I have played basketball and golf and all that since it happened.

Will the soreness go away, or is it possible that I screwed something up in my neck and now I'll spend the rest of my life having to do neck exercises to loosen it up every morning?

And yes, I know I'm a wuss. But it really is annoying.

 

Odds are hyou'll be fine...or bed ridden with intracable pin for thd rest of your life. And more likely the former.

It's not unusual to habve soreness after an injury, espcielaly i nth morning. The muscles have had all night to go into spasm and are tight when you get up to start your day. As you move aroound, things loosen up.

That said, neck injuries take little longer to heal. The muscles of the neck, the trapezius and sternomastoid are responsible for holding your head on your shoulders. If you hurt an arm or leg, they can be rested with a sling or cructhes, but it's hard to take your head off you shoulders and put it on a shelf for a few days.

Ice, antiinflammatory medicatiosn like ibuprofen and activity as tolerated often works wonders. But when in doubt, give your family doctor a call.