By Antoinette Grajeda
One of the best parts of summer is the warm temperature, but too much heat can lead to heat-related illnesses. These conditions occur when the body’s temperature control system is overloaded. The body normally cools itself by sweating, but sometimes that isn’t enough. In these instances, body temperature rises rapidly and can damage the brain or other vital organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Several factors affect the body’s ability to cool itself including high humidity, age, obesity, fever, dehydration, prescription drug and alcohol use, heart disease, mental illness, poor circulation and sunburn. Those with the greatest risk for heat-related illness include people who are overweight, ill, children up to 4 years old and adults 65 years of age and older, according to the CDC. The risk may increase among those using psychotropics, Parkinson’s disease medications, tranquilizers and diuretics.

Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness and occurs when the body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down. Within 10 to 15 minutes, the body’s temperature may rise to 106 degrees or higher. Heat stroke can cause permanent disability or death if emergency treatment is not provided, according to the CDC.

Warning signs of heat stroke vary, but include a body temperature of about 103 degrees; red, hot and dry skin; a rapid, strong pulse; throbbing headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion; and unconsciousness.

If someone should experience a heat stroke, in addition to calling for immediate medical assistance, you should cool the affected person rapidly by moving them to a shady area or immersing them in a tub of cool water. If the humidity is low, wrap them in a cool, wet sheet and fan them vigorously. Monitor their body temperature until it drops to 101-102 degrees and if emergency medical personnel are delayed, call the hospital emergency room for further instructions.

Prevention
The key to avoiding heat stroke is prevention, and sitting in an air-conditioned location is a good start. Electric fans may also provide comfort, but in extreme temperatures, they won’t prevent heat-related illness, according to the CDC. Other prevention techniques include drinking plenty of fluids, replacing salts and minerals, and wearing appropriate clothing and sunscreen.

To help keep athletes safe during the hot summer months, Gatorade has teamed up with the National Football League to educate parents and coaches about heat-related illness and the importance of hydration. As part of the 4th annual “Beat the Heat” program, NFL players, coaches and their wives will lead hydration awareness efforts, while raising money for the Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation. For every unique download of the Gatorade Heat Safety kit on www.nfl.com/trainingcamp, Gatorade will donate $1 (up to $25,000) to “Beat the Heat” charities.

The Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation was created in memory of its namesake who died from complications of heat stroke in 1995. The organization is located in Rogers and raises awareness about hydration and heat illness prevention locally as well as nationally by hosting an informative Web site, an annual 5K Run, and through the distribution of information, pamphlets and squeeze bottles to coaches and physical education teachers.
Last year, the House approved a resolution to designate August as National Heat Stroke Awareness month. The foundation’s executive director Rhonda Fincher said August is the perfect time to raise awareness because it’s typically a hot month and that’s when local schools begin football practice. However, she added that caution should be taken more often than one month out of the year.

“People need to be aware of it year-round because it can happen any time, any where, depending on the conditions, but especially in the heat of the summer,” she said.
While there are lots of tips for preventing and treating heat stroke, Fincher said the simplest one to remember is “pre-hydrate, hydrate and re-hydrate” and it applies to everyone, not just athletes. Information from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute supports Fincher’s insistence of the importance of hydration. The organization’s research showed that as many as 70 percent of high school football players could show up for practice poorly hydrated. The research also indicated that the recommendation of drinking fluids prior to working out increased the number of players appearing to be adequately hydrated upon their arrival to practice.

For more information, visit www.kendrickfincher.org, www.nfl.com or www.gatorade.com

The ongoing team effort between Gatorade and the NFL is built on communicating heat-illness prevention and treatment techniques, including the “4 Downs” of heat safety to athletes and parents and coaches of athletes who are playing or practicing in hot weather.

The “4 Downs” are:

• 1st Down: Prevent — Know how to avoid heat illness, identify the warning signs and treat the symptoms
• 2nd Down: Prepare — Acclimate to the heat and hydrate BEFORE you get to practice
• 3rd Down: Proper Hydration — Choose sports drinks like Gatorade to replace electrolytes, especially sodium lost in sweat
• 4th Down: Plan — Have an emergency plan and keep a cool pool nearby to immerse players suffering from heat stroke

Source: Beat The Heat Campaign, www.nfl.com

Heat Illness Prevention
What Puts Youth Athletes At Risk?
Heat-related illnesses are some of the most common problems for youth athletes playing in the heat. These conditions can be dangerous, or even fatal in some cases. Heat-induced illness is one of the most preventable sports injuries. Parents, young athletes and coaches need to understand the physiological factors that increase the risk for heat-related illness and take steps to prevent it.

Why kids are at risk:

• Children absorb more heat from a hot environment because they have a greater surface-area-to-body-mass ratio than adults. The smaller the child the faster he heats up.
• Children and adolescents may have a reduced ability to dissipate heat through sweating.
• Children and adolescents frequently do not have the physiological drive to drink enough fluids to replenish sweat losses during prolonged exercise.
• Youth athletes may be more easily distracted when occasions allow for them to rest and rehydrate.

Signs Of Dehydration And Heat Illness
If dehydration progresses unchecked, the risk of heat illness increases. Heat illness is best understood in three separate degrees of severity: heat cramps, heat exhaustion and the most serious and deadly form, heat stroke. The symptoms outlined above do not necessarily occur in progression, so young athletes could experience heat stroke in absence of other indicators.
Source: Kendrick Fincher Memorial Foundation, www.kendrickfincher.org

By Antoinette Grajeda

Children are taught reading, writing and arithmetic and a variety of other subjects in school. PE4life is making sure students also learn the value of being active and healthy. PE4life is a national nonprofit advocacy organization created in 2000 with the mission “to develop a country of active, healthy children and youth by increasing access to quality physical education solutions,” according to the group’s Web site.

Northwest Arkansas is now home to PE4life’s first regional office, which is funded through grants as well as corporate and private donations and located inside the Rogers Athletic Center. The organization’s programs are already being implemented at schools in Springdale, Bentonville and Rogers. The schools will serve as models so these programs can be replicated throughout Northwest Arkansas and the state, community outreach manager Sherry Lloyd said. Lloyd became involved in the local academy because she thought it was “a great way to influence children.”
PE4life’s approach to physical education is it “be offered to every child everyday, be available to all students, not just the athletically inclined, provide a wide variety of sports and fitness activities to promote an active and healthy lifestyle, assess students on their personal progress toward fitness and physical activity goals, incorporate technology on a regular basis, and extend beyond the walls of the gymnasium,” according to the organization’s Web site.

One of the programs the organization offers is exergaming, or the use of technology for fitness. Another option is outdoor adventure where children learn about camping, bicycling, fishing and kayaking. Students are also taught practical applications along the way. For example, when learning about bicycling, children may also learn how to change a bike’s tire or replace a chain. Outdoor activities also create another activity students can do with their families, Lloyd added.

One of the cirriculums PE4life endorses for its elementary physical education is Action Based Learning, a program that focuses on how to incorporate being active into academics.
“I work with teachers, telling them about how the brain works and grows and remembers and develops, and then the strategies that they can use in the classroom to get movement into their teaching — teaching academic concepts kinesthetically,” ABL co-founder Jean Blaydes Madigan said.

Madigan has 30 years of experience as a physical education teacher, but is now a consultant. When she first heard about PE4life, she was excited about the opportunity to work with an organization who had goals similar to her own.
“I considered them like the knight in shining armor riding in on the white horse and they’re going to save my profession because it was a group of business people who were actually saying they were going to give money towards the effort and then also to lobby in Washington on Capitol Hill for daily physical education, which has always been my dream because of the importance of physical education,” she said.

While discussing the importance of being healthy, Madigan cited a study released in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year, which discovered that one out of five 4-year-olds is obese. When researchers tested the children’s IQs, they also found that their scores were 10 to 20 points lower than their peers.
“What that means is the brain is not getting the fuel that it needs because the high fat, high sugar diet impedes the ability of the brain to get its fuel, which is glucose and oxygen,” Madigan said.

When it comes to improving children’s health, Madigan said it’s important to remember “the good N.E.W.S.” — nutrition, exercise, water and sleep.
“If we can get the parents to do that and work together as a community to help our kids, that’s what it’s all about,” she said.

Schools teaching the PE4life program often track data and so far, their statistics have shown an improvement in students’ fitness scores and decreased disciplinary incidents. There has also been improvements in students’ academics. For example, at Naperville Central High School in Illinois, a new Learning Readiness PE class was implemented for the 2005-06 school year. This program found a link between physical education and improved math and literacy scores when physical activity was offered before reading and math classes. Students who enrolled in a PE class immediately before their math class increased their algebra readiness by an average of 20 percent, according to the organization’s Web site.

Naperville, Ill., was the location of PE4life’s first academy and some argued the program was successful because the school had the proper funding. To test that theory, the organization started an academy in a poorer school district in Grundy Center, Iowa.
“What we wanted people to see is this is not a cookie cutter program,” Lloyd said.
The program was a success there as well and now PE4life has six academies across the United States. Interested teachers, coaches and community leaders can attend these academies to learn more about the program and take the lessons home to their communities.

In June of this year, Bentonville hosted a summit, which attracted more than 200 participants from California, New York, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and Oklahoma.

After attending a conference, some people become discouraged when they return home because they “hit a brick wall when they get back because of funding,” Lloyd said. The community outreach manager is adamant that participants should not be disheartened.
“If you have to do it on a shoe string budget, it can be done,” she said.

One of the ways Lloyd’s office can help is by assisting interested parties in their search for funding and by offering a grant writing class. The local office also offers public speaking and in the fall, the academy will host training sessions.
Information: 479-621-8878 or www.pe4life.org.

By Antoinette Grajeda
There are several options for treating the varying ailments of the human body and one of those is complementary and alternative medicine. Sometimes referred to as CAM, this term refers to medical products and practices that are not part of standard care, meaning what medical doctors and allied health professionals practice, according to the National Library of Medicine.
These practices may not be considered mainstream, but in recent years, more patients have been adopting these methods. About 38 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use some form of CAM, according to a nationwide government survey released in December 2008. Examples of CAM therapies include biofeedback, chelation therapy, deep breathing and hypnosis. Some of the more well-known therapies include acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal medicines.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world and “aims to restore and maintain health through the stimulation of specific points of the body,” according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
The term acupuncture describes a group of procedures involving the stimulation of points on the body using a variety of techniques. The technique that’s been most studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or electrical stimulation.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the body is seen as a balance of two opposing and inseparable forces, yin and yang, and disease is caused by an imbalance of the two. This disparity leads to the blockage in the flow of qi (vital energy) along pathways called meridians. Using acupuncture allows the qi to become unblocked.
According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, an estimated 3.1 million adults and 150,000 children in the United States used acupuncture during the previous year. Between the 2002 and 2007 survey, acupuncture use among adults increased by approximately 1 million people. Although that number is increasing, licensed acupuncturist Pamela Bayers of Health & Harmony Oriental Medical Clinic in Fayetteville, said fear prevents some people from trying acupuncture.
“A lot of people are afraid of needles,” she said. “A lot of people are afraid and a lot of people think ‘well, if it was really that good, why wouldn’t our insurance company cover it?’”

Some insurance companies do cover this form of treatment and if enacted, The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act would make acupuncture a benefit covered under both Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits program.
Acupuncture can be used to treat a variety of conditions like arthritis, back and neck pain, fibromyalgia, shoulder pain, gastrointestinal problems, infections, insomnia, anxiety, depression, skin problems, heart problems and chronic fatigue, Bayers said. This treatment can also help improve someone’s mental outlook.

“A lot of times people feel better and they get along with people better because their qi is more in harmony, their body’s more in harmony, so things work better,” she said. “So a lot of times people will walk out feeling less irritable; a lot of times they’re happier.”
Few complications from acupuncture have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but complications have resulted from inadequate sterilization of needles and improper delivery of treatments. When not implemented correctly, acupuncture can lead to infections and punctured organs.
Chiropractic

Chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the body’s structure (mainly the spine) and its functioning. U.S. practitioners are required to earn a doctor of chiropractic degree from properly accredited colleges. Several patients have chronic, pain-related health conditions and seek care primarily for back pain, neck pain and headache, according to the NCCAM.

Some procedures can be traced back to ancient times, but the modern version of the profession was founded in Davenport, Iowa, by Daniel David Palmer in 1895. Palmer was a self-taught healer who believed the body has a natural healing ability. He theorized that misalignments of the spine can interfere with the flow of energy needed to support health, so the key to health is to normalize the function of the nervous system, according to the NCCAM.

Like acupuncture, chiropractic is one of the more widely used CAM treatments in the U.S. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, more than 18 million adults and 2 million children received chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation during the previous year.
Side effects and risks depend on the type of treatment used. For example, consequences from chiropractic adjustments can include temporary headaches, tiredness or discomfort in the adjusted areas. The likelihood of serious complications, such as stroke, is low and related to the type of adjustment performed as well as the part of the body treated, according to the NCCAM.

If dietary supplements are part of a chiropractic treatment, they can interact with other medications so it’s important for patients to inform their chiropractor of any medicines and supplements they’re taking.

By Las Vegas Health
Gary Wacker describes his decision to have joint replacement surgery as “a no-brainer.”
“I was failing fast,” Wacker said. “I got to the place were climbing stairs hurt like the dickens, and climbing ladders was unbearable. I had an instance where I had to grit my teeth to climb a one-story ladder.”
Wacker is a refrigeration mechanic, often requiring him to crawl on his hands and knees, climb ladders and lift heavy objects. He had both hips replaced in December 2006, and now he says he feels “wonderful.”
“At 53, I don’t feel like I’m 18 again, but I didn’t expect to,” Wacker said. “I can pretty much do anything I could do before this problem.”
More than 800,000 people in the U.S. had knee and hip replacement procedures in 2007. That number is expected to rise, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS). Of the two major joint replacement categories, about 500,000 procedures were for knee replacements, while 300,000 patients received hip replacements. Other joints such as elbows and shoulders can be replaced as well, but these procedures are less common.
In a healthy joint, bones are separated by layers of soft tissue called cartilage that absorb impact and prevent bones from rubbing against one another. Joint replacement is a surgical procedure in which damaged cartilage and bone are removed and replaced with synthetic components to relieve pain and regain range of movement. It can be used as a treatment for severe arthritis as well as injury involving joints, such as those sometimes sustained by athletes.
“The vast majority of patients need a joint replacement for disabling pain as a result of arthritis,” said Dr. Scott Cooper, an orthopaedic surgeon at Ozark Orthopaedics in Rogers.
Joint replacements are meant to last for long periods of time, but age can affect the need for a procedure to be performed more than once during a patient’s lifetime.
“Speaking of hip replacements and knee replacements, well over 90 percent last for 10 years, probably 75 percent or so will last for 20 years, but they don’t last forever and the younger a patient is when they get one, the more likely they are to wear it out,” Cooper said.
In the past, the procedure was primarily used in older patients, but new developments in materials and technology have made joint replacement safer and more attractive to people that may not have considered it before.
The increase in joint replacement procedures is the result of new developments in prosthetic joints and a widening segment of the population receiving the operations, according to Dr. James Stiehl, clinical associate professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
“These devices have eliminated the issue of wear that we’ve dealt with for years,” Stiehl said, referring to cross-linked polyethylene. This highly-versatile and wear-resistant thermoplastic is the same basic material used in flexible home piping.
Older prosthetic joint materials are prone to heavy wear and breakage, but studies of cross-linked polyethylene show significant improvements in these areas. This new development means more people are able to undergo joint replacement surgery than ever before. With older metal-on-metal applications, doctors must deal with the long-term effects of microscopic metal shavings entering the blood and poisoning the patient. At particular risk are patients with kidney ailments and pregnant or nursing mothers. Because the new cross-linked polyethylene is more wear-resistant, joint replacements are now safer for patients in such sensitive situations.
More younger patients are also getting joint replacements. While the average age of a joint replacement patient is about 66, about a third of joint replacement patients are younger. These younger patients are attracted to newly-developed prosthetic joints because of their longer life and decreased wear. Younger patients tend to be more active, increasing the risk of prosthetic joints wearing out prematurely, but with newer materials, this risk is greatly diminished.
Another driving force behind the increase in joint replacements is the development of new techniques that make the procedure less invasive. By using special tools designed to work through smaller incisions, surgeons can accomplish the same results with less trauma to the body, shortening the time required for healing. This technique is referred to as “minimally invasive,” but Stiehl warns minimally-invasive procedures can increase the chances of complications because of the difficulty of such operations.
In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration approved another technique that is meant to spare as much natural material within the joint as possible. The technique is known as hip-resurfacing, and it involves rounding the head of the femur and placing a synthetic cap over it to replace damaged cartilage. The benefits of this procedure include preserving the natural stability of the bone and more natural movement of the joint. Having only been on the market for a couple of years, the lifespan of these implants is still a subject of research.
Because of the procedure’s relatively untested track record, some doctors are wary of performing the operation.
“Hip resurfacing is a reasonable approach, but there are some problems,” Stiehl said.
At the time of FDA approval, most of these implants were metal-on-metal applications, limiting their use in patients that may be sensitive to metal ions. There is also a risk of femoral neck fracture. Patients with osteoporosis are not good candidates for hip resurfacing, and this eliminates many women and senior citizens, groups most likely to develop the bone-weakening condition. Still, hip resurfacing is performed in a number of hospitals nationwide.
With these new materials and techniques improving joint replacement and opening it to much wider audiences, what does the future hold? Stiehl looks to computers to further improve what is already a widely-successful procedure. Computer-assisted surgery has the potential to reduce tissue trauma by reducing the time and cutting required for each operation.
“We just have to look at ways to make it more predictable,” Stiehl said. “I think the computer is going to add precision to these operations to make them easier to do.”
Joint replacement is certainly not a risk-free procedure, but the success rate of such operations is between 95 percent and 99 percent.
Cooper said one of the risks is developing an infection,
“Infection is a risk of any operation, but it’s particularly bad if a joint replacement becomes infected because usually that requires removal of the implants and having the patient get I.V. antibiotics for several weeks before the implants can be put back in,” he said.
The most serious risks include infection and blood clots, but Stiehl put the risk of either occurring at less than 1 percent. Other risks include bone fracture, limb length inequality, prosthetic loosening and risks associated with any surgical procedure, such as heart attack or stroke.
“Things that impact these numbers are things like hospital experience,” Stiehl said. “Hospitals that do more than 250 joints a year have lower rates of complications. It stands to reason, the better you are, the lower your complications.”
Wacker says he would recommend the surgery to others in similar situations.
“The rehab involves discomfort, stretching yourself and a lot of downtime,” Wacker said. “But, if you have serious joint pain, I would definitely recommend having it done.”

Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this report.

By Dee Duren
The thyroid is a small organ with a huge impact on the human body. A butterfly-shaped gland located in the base of the throat just above the collarbone, the thyroid produces hormones that affect the way every other organ in the body works. For an estimated 27 million Americans, malfunctions in this little gland cause a wide range of problems ranging from mild to severe. According to the American Association of Endocrinologists, about half of those Americans have not yet been diagnosed.

About The Thyroid
Part of the endocrine system, the thyroid secretes two main hormones — tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) — that regulate the body’s metabolism, or the way it stores and uses energy, grows and heals. Imbalances in the production of these hormones can cause a personal energy crisis. The way the body uses fats and carbohydrates, controls temperature, heart rate, mental functioning and more can all suffer from thyroid disease.
“Through its production of the two thyroid hormones T4 and T3, the thyroid controls the metabolism of every cell and organ system in the body, especially the heart, liver muscle and brain,” said Dr. Irwin Klein, American Thyroid Association Research Committee chairman and Thyroid Disease Program director at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. “The diseases of over- and underactive thyroid disease — hyper- and hypothyroidism — have many symptoms relating to energy, weight, heart, cholesterol, muscle strength, skin and hair.”
Studies show that women are five to eight times more likely to have thyroid disease than men, and thyroid imbalances can be especially harmful for women who are or want to become pregnant. Men, infants and children are also at risk of thyroid disease.

Types Of Thyroid Disease
Hypo- and hyperactive thyroid disorders are the most common forms of thyroid disease. Other forms of thyroid disease include goiter, or enlarged thyroid gland. Goiter is usually harmless but can become uncomfortably large and affect breathing and swallowing. Thyroid nodules are lumpy growths within the thyroid and are usually benign. Thyroid cancer is found in about 8 percent of nodules in men and in about 4 percent of nodules in women, according to The Hormone Foundation.
Thyroiditis is a condition in which the thyroid becomes inflamed. Depending on the nature of the inflammation, thyroiditis can cause the same symptoms as hypo- or hyperthyroidism. Women who experience metabolism problems after giving birth may be suffering from a condition known as postpartum thyroiditis. About 8 percent of women are believed to develop postpartum thyroiditis within a few months of giving birth. According to the National Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Information Service, these women will probably experience thyroiditis with each pregnancy. If the thyroid gland doesn’t recover, they may need to be placed on lifelong thyroid medication.

Hypothyroidism
The most common thyroid disorder is hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid. It occurs most often in women over the age of 50, and its effects increase with time.
“Hypothyroidism often causes symptoms that are mild like mild fatigue and weight gain,” said Dr. Alan P. Farwell, director of endocrine studies at Boston Medical Center and an associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine.
“It can also cause severe symptoms such as severe fatigue, constipation, very low body temperature, heavy menstrual periods, confusion and memory loss.”
If left untreated, hypothyroidism can cause high blood cholesterol levels that can lead to heart disease, joint pain, obesity and infertility. In infants and children, untreated hypothyroidism can result in developmental problems. Infants with underactive thyroid glands may show signs of jaundice, frequent choking, an enlarged tongue and puffy face. Constipation, poor muscle tone and excessive sleepiness may develop as the disorder progresses. Children whose hypothyroidism remains untreated may have delayed and stunted mental and physical development.

Hyperthyroidism
“Hyperthyroidism often has the most dramatic symptoms with racing or pounding heart beats, shakes and tremors, severe weight loss, insomnia and marked sweating,” Farwell said. Hyperthyroidism occurs when the body produces too much of the hormones that regulate the metabolism. Other symptoms include nervousness or irritability, muscle weakness, mood swings, diarrhea and heat intolerance.
Hyperthyroidism is sometimes caused by the presence of nodules, goiter or thyroiditis. Graves’ disease, the most common form of hyperthyroidism in the U.S., is an autoimmune disease where the body’s defense system acts against itself. Graves’ Disease is most common in women starting in their 20s. In addition to the usual symptoms of hyperthyroidism, Graves’ Disease sufferers also may have swelling of the tissues and muscles behind the eyes that cause the eyes to bulge. A less common symptom is patchy, puffy red skin on the shins and tops of the feet.
Older adults with hyperthyroidism can be misdiagnosed with depression or even dementia if their symptoms remain untreated. Overactive thyroid also speeds up the development of osteoporosis and causes heart problems that may lead to heart failure or stroke.

Testing Is Key
Fortunately, testing for thyroid disease is a well-established practice for family physicians during an annual physical. It is especially important that women have their thyroid functions tested.
A simple blood test can be done to determine if the thyroid is functioning normally,” Farwell said. Levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) tell physicians whether the gland is working properly or not. It is the first step your physician will take if thyroid problems are suspected.
“Know your TSH,” Klein said. “TSH levels can make a diagnosis in all cases. Treatment cures the symptoms; untreated symptoms usually get worse. In pregnancy, treatment is critical for mother and child.”
John Baldridge, an endocinologist for Northwest Health System, noted that lab tests can be confusing when dealing with thyroiditis. Sometimes a good clinical assessment of the patient and the lab results require an endocrinologist.
“When there is confusion about the lab tests, we’re often asked to sort out what this means,” Baldridge said. “It’s not unusual to have confusing lab tests come back unexpectedly abnormal in a pattern that doesn’t quite fit a diagnosis.”
Ultrasound is another useful device for physicians dealing with the thyroid.
“Ultrasound is today’s best assessment of abnormalities in size and description of the gland itself, ideally done before any biopsies are attempted,” Baldridge said.
When testing for thyroid problems, sometimes it’s a matter of repeating tests over a period of time in order to gain an accurate evaluation.
“Treatment of thyroiditis may be ‘tincture of time,’ meaning it can be better if physician and patient simply repeat laboratory testing, or even ultrasound evaluation, at a later date: blood tests and even the anatomy often change with time, usually confirming a clinical suspicion when treatment is best,” Baldridge said. “Like the old adage, ‘timing is everything.’”

Treatment
Hypothyroidism is treated with a thyroid hormone pill once a day. It’s important to take thyroid medication on an empty stomach because some minerals including calcium interfere with absorption. Some patients tend to stop taking their medication when their symptoms clear up which may cause long-term problems as the disease tends to get worse over time.
Hyperthyroidism can be treated with antithyroid pills, surgery or a treatment with radioactive iodine. Nodules that are large enough are usually biopsied to see if there is cancer present. If malignant cells are found, it is usually treated by surgery to remove the affected tissue, often followed by a radioactive iodine treatment. Patients will then have to take thyroid medication to replace the thyroid no longer manufactured by the missing gland.
In recent years, research has focused on the importance of detecting and managing thyroid disease during pregnancy. Pregnant mothers with hypothyroidism, even mild cases, are at an increased risk for premature delivery. Women being treated for underactive thyroid often need a 30 to 50 percent increase in their dose of thyroid hormone replacement. Women with undiagnosed hyperthyroidism are at added risk for miscarriage.
The exact cause of a malfunctioning thyroid is unknown, but Baldridge noted that altered thyroid function can be found in iodine deficient as well as iodine rich areas of the world. However, he cautions that whether it is “a true disease state or simply an environmental hazard is another matter.”
There is no precise method for prevention, but Baldridge suggested having iodine in one’s diet.
“I suppose to have a level amount of iodine in the diet is the best prevention we can recommend for people,” he said. “We get that from our standard foods, in the United States at least, from bread, milk and salt.”
It’s important to remember that thyroid disease is almost always a lifelong disease. With the proper treatment, however, it is a disease that can be managed.

Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this report.

By Antoinette Grajeda
People have surgery to change their appearance all the time. They’re not happy with the size or shape of something, but that’s not the reason Mattie Watson of Bella Vista had gastric bypass surgery. She liked herself as she was, but she also loved herself enough to be mindful of her health.
“I’ve always been a big child,” she said. “I was always taller than anybody else in my class or weight-wise bigger than anyone else in my class, so I’ve always been big and it never really bothered me. But then as I got older in high school and in college it just got to be a little out of control.”
On April 5, Mattie celebrated the three-month anniversary of her surgery and the loss of 54 pounds.
Her journey to this new life began a few years ago and was born out of tragedy. Her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during the July 4, 2000, weekend. He passed away a little over two weeks later on July 19.
“It happened that fast,” Mattie said.
The loss of her father inspired Mattie to visit the doctor and have everything checked out. When she was diagnosed with diabetes, she began taking medication, but she didn’t change her eating habits.
“After being diagnosed diabetic, I was a little bit more concerned, but not really,” she said.
In 2007, it hit home how problematic her weight could be during a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico.
“There was one thing I wanted to do — I wanted to swim with the dolphins,” she said. “I saved and saved and saved so I could have enough money to do that and I was just miserable.”
Her experience with the dolphins was not enjoyable because Mattie was uncomfortable in a life jacket that didn’t fit properly, she was suffering from leg cramps and her weight pushing down on a metal grate was painful on her feet.
Mattie’s weight had become an issue in her daily life. Walking to and from the mailbox caused her to be out of breath, she couldn’t ride the rides when she took her friends’ children to the county fair and sitting in restaurant booths was uncomfortable.
“I’m so tired of not being able to do the things I want to do because I’m so overweight,” she said.
Mattie had dieted on her own in the past and used diet medication prescribed by doctors, but never quite got the results she wanted.
“I would really try for like three or four months, but I’d hit that 30-pound mark and there’d be nothing else,” she said.
Mattie’s diabetic medication was increased for the first time two years ago and she was also prescribed medication for high cholesterol. It was then that she decided to look at surgery more seriously.
“I said I got to do something; I have to do something now. I mean, I’m only 35 years old,” she said. “I want to be around to be an old woman, to be around my nieces.”
She had tossed the idea of surgery around before, especially after seeing a former co-worker go through the process. The stars seemed to be aligning when Mattie’s work offered a new “awesome” insurance program that would cover the cost of the surgery. In addition to paying for the procedures, the plan paid for Mattie and a companion to fly to the hospital (she had to use one of the plan’s approved doctors and hospitals), stay in a hotel, have transportation and receive a $2,000 recovery check.
To qualify, she also had to have six months of doctor-supervised diet and exercise, as well as a psychological evaluation to let her know the surgery is a tool to help her and not a miracle cure.
Mattie was excited about the procedure, but her mother, a registered nurse, “was not real thrilled.” She is of the “you can do it on your own” mindset, but she was also concerned about the risks that come with surgery, Mattie said.
“She’s your mom; she doesn’t want you to do anything that might could kill you,” Mattie said.
Mattie reassured her mom she would be alright because she didn’t have any other health complications and because she was young. While her mother was scared, Mattie didn’t focus on the possible negative outcomes.
“I just never really was scared about that,” she said. “I always figured that if it was my time to go then it was my time to go no matter what, so I never allowed myself to really think about it.”
The surgery Mattie had was the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The procedure can be done laparoscopically, meaning small incisions were made, explained her surgeon Cliff Thomas. Surgical instruments are passed through tubes in the incisions, as well as a camera that allows surgeons to see the area they’re working on.
“There’s very few failures, but it’s a complex operation,” Thomas said.
Complex operation means complications, and he said those can include bleeding, leakage of intestinal fluid and bowel obstruction.
At 7:30 a.m. Jan. 5, a 328-pound Mattie was wheeled into a surgery that lasted an hour and a half. By 6 p.m. that evening, Mattie was up and walking around to the surprise of the nurses.
Her recovery went smoothly. She felt some tugging from the stitches, but she never had to use her pain-killing drugs. By 3 p.m. the following day, she was discharged from University General Hospital in Houston, Texas.
Since the surgery, Mattie has experienced several changes to her lifestyle. For one, she no longer has to take diabetic medication. She has made alterations to her schedule, including attending a weight-loss support group once a month and exercising much more frequently.
“God bless the iPod,” she enthused. “I’m telling you I would not be able to walk outside as much as I do if I didn’t have my songs to jam to.”
And then, of course, there’s the weight loss. During the first month alone, the weight “came off really fast,” resulting in a loss of nearly 30 pounds. She was nervous about being stuck at the dreaded 30-pound mark, but she has long surpassed that and “it’s really exciting.”
Mattie is becoming thinner, which means finding clothes has been an issue. She has lost 10 jean sizes, and, although her friend Tammy teases her about being a pack rat, Mattie is thankful to have kept the smaller clothes she collected during her previous weight-loss attempts.
“That’s the only saving grace I’ve had,” she said. “I mean, I’ve been pulling out pants and shirts that I haven’t worn in years.”
Before the surgery, Mattie enjoyed watching television and movies, reading and the occasional walk, but now she’s “just in the mood to get out and do stuff” and has much more energy to do so.
Her diet has changed as well. She must take a variety of vitamins every day because her smaller stomach doesn’t absorb all of the necessary nutrition, but she said that’s a much better option than paying for expensive diabetic medications.
Mattie has a book to guide her through the process of incorporating exercise into her daily routine as well as what foods she can eat. For example, she must eat plenty of protein. She’s been instructed to eat three meals a day and said the tough part isn’t eating the proper foods, but simply remembering to eat.
“The eating has been real easy for me because I don’t have that hunger feeling anymore and they say eventually that comes back, but it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if it didn’t,” she said.
Mattie is excited to see the weight come off and has even set a weight loss goal for herself.
“I’m not going to be greedy,” she said. “I’m not going to try to be like Kate Moss or anything or Cindy Crawford, you know? If I can just get under 200 pounds, 175 pounds, that would rock!”

Writer’s Note: Check back every issue as we follow Mattie’s journey.

Weight Loss Support
The Northwest Arkansas Weight Loss Surgery Support Group meets at 2 p.m. the second Sunday of every month at the Rogers Activity Center. For more information, contact Wyona Yaffe at wyaffe@yahoo.com or call (479) 644-1999.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion revealed a new type of pyramid on its interactive Web site, (MyPyramid.gov) for preschoolers that may help parents deal with picky eating problems, especially as they are introduced to new kinds of foods.
Among the MyPyramid for Preschoolers tips to help parents deal with finicky eaters are:

• Set limits for the start and end of a meal. When you see your child is no longer interested in the meal, excuse the child from the table.

• Encourage your child to try new foods, but don’t lecture or force your child to eat.

• Talk about fun and happy things as part of an overall effort to make mealtimes stress-free.

• Cook together. Encourage preschoolers to help you prepare meals and snacks.

Obese have aged neck arteries
The neck arteries of obese children and teens look more like those of 45-year-olds, according to research presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting.
“There’s a saying that ‘you’reries,’ meaning that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke,” Dr. Geetha Raghuveer noted in a written statement. “We found that the state of the arteries in these children is more typical of a 45-year-old than of someone their own age.”
In 70 children ages 6 to 19, Raghuveer of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., and colleagues used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the neck (carotid) arteries that supply blood to the brain.
Increasing carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) indicates the fatty buildup of plaque within arteries feeding the heart muscle and the brain, which can lead to heart attack or stroke.
The investigators found that the children’s “vascular age” — the age at which the level of thickening would be normal for their gender and race — was about 30 years older than their actual age.
Further studies are needed to determine whether artery build-up will decrease if children lose weight, exercise or are treated for abnormal lipids.

Fruit juice: Is it good or bad?
Recent studies at the Mayo Clinic have confirmed that drinking moderate amounts of 100 percent fruit juice does not have an effect on children’s weight. However, fruit juice is high in calories, and — just like any other high-calorie food or drink — too much fruit juice can contribute to weight gain.
If you do give your children fruit juice, choose 100 percent fruit juice instead of sweetened juice or fruit-juice cocktail drinks. While 100 percent juice and sweetened fruit drinks may have about the same number of calories, your children will get more vitamins and nutrients from 100 percent juice.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following:

• Not giving fruit juice to infants less than 6 months old while infants ages 6 to 12 months can have up to four ounces a day and should not be given in a bottle to avoid tooth decay.

• Children up to 6 years old can have up to 6 ounces a day, and children ages 6 to 12 can have up to 12 ounces a day.

• Four ounces of juice equals one serving of fruit, but keep in mind that juice lacks the fiber of whole fruit. Although a little fruit juice each day is fine for most children, whole fruit is preferred.

Fan in Baby’s Room May Lower SIDS Risk
Young infants who sleep in bedrooms with fans have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome than babies who sleep in less well-ventilated rooms, new research by the National Institute of Health shows.
Investigators concluded that sleeping with a fan lowers SIDS risk by more than 70 percent.
Sleeping in a room with an open window was also found to lower risk.
The intriguing findings must be confirmed, and researchers say fan use is no substitute for interventions known to lower SIDS risk, such as placing babies to sleep on their backs, avoiding soft bedding in cribs, and putting babies to sleep with pacifiers.
SIDS deaths have dropped by more than half in the United States since 1992, when parents were first told to put babies to sleep on their backs.
SIDS, is the leading cause of death in babies 1 month to 1 year old and is most likely to occur when babies are between 2 and 4 months old.

New condom would allow women to take charge in protection against HIV/AIDS
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will consider approving a second-generation female condom sometime in the next six months.
Dr. David Holtgrave, the chairman of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that distributing 16.6 million female condoms in South Africa could prevent 10,000 HIV infections. Female condoms allow women to take the lead in protecting themselves against the infection.
On Dec. 11 the FDA advisory panel unanimously recommended the product in a vote, so it appears likely they will approve the new condom, the FC2.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2005 HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, black women in the U.S. suffered from the disease 23 times more often than white women. Seventy-four percent of those infections were caused by high-risk sexual contact, the study found.
The FC2 will be roughly 30 percent cheaper than its predecessors, although it will still be more expensive than male condoms.

New study suggests autistic traits may be linked to high levels of testosterone in the womb
A groundbreaking study published in the British Journal of Psychology found a link between high levels of testosterone in the womb of pregnant women and autistic traits, such as a lack of sociability and verbal skills, in their children.
The study was prompted by statistics that autism is four times more common in boys than in girls. It is also linked with other traits found more often in boys, such as left-handedness.
Over eight years, the study observed and tested 235 children whose mothers had an amniocentesis during pregnancy. The procedure involves drawing fluid that surrounds the baby in the womb using a fine needle. The procedure is offered to women over ages 35 or 37 to test for Down syndrome. The age and circumstances of the women tested was taken into account.
Not all of the children are autistic, but many have traits that are more pronounced, often described as consequences of an extreme male brain. Autistic children do not empathize easily with other people, cannot guess what others are thinking or feeling, have a stronger drive toward analysis and constructing systems, and have a great ability to focus on something that absorbs them.
The researchers plan to continue studying the children they have been following and will now look for a link between high levels of testosterone in the womb and children who have been diagnosed with autism by studying banks of amniotic fluid that have been collected since 1990 in Denmark.
This research opens the way for screening pregnant women, which could potentially use amniocentesis to draw fluid from the womb and measure testosterone levels.
More than half a million people are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger’s syndrome, in Britain. A study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention found that about 1 in 150 children in the United States has autism. Autism is not usually diagnosed until the child is 3 to 4 years old.
Autism runs in families, but environmental factors can play a part. It is a complex developmental disability involving a biological abnormality in the functioning of the brain. It is not a learning disability or mental health problem, although people with autism may be affected by those conditions.

Study finds that women who use hormone therapy for at least five years double their risk of developing breast cancer
A follow-up to the landmark Women’s Health Initiative report of 2002 has found that postmenopausal women who take combined estrogen plus progestin menopausal hormone therapy for at least five years double their annual risk of developing breast cancer.
The same study found a clear link between hormone use and breast cancer and also found that women can quickly reduce their risks of cancer by simply stopping hormone therapy.
The initiative found that postmenopausal women taking estrogen plus progestin were at a far greater risk of developing breast cancer and other serious conditions than women who took a placebo. Hormone use plummeted in the United States after the study was published, from 60 million prescriptions in 2001 to 20 million prescriptions in 2005. In the same time, breast cancer rates also declined significantly, suggesting a strong link between hormone use and cancer risk. Some scientists claim the connection is from a higher pattern of mammogram use.
The results do not apply to women who are only taking estrogen. The WHI trial did not find an increase in breast cancer in women who used estrogen alone. Women who took estrogen without progestin, even for more than five years, were not at a higher risk for developing breast cancer. Only women who have had a hysterectomy can safely take estrogen by itself because it can over stimulate the uterine lining, leading to endometrial cancer.
This trial did not assign women to take placebos or hormone therapy, but rather followed women who made their own decisions about whether or not to undergo therapy. This study found similar results to the WHI study, which assigned participants to categories, but advised all the women involved in the study to stop taking hormones when the results were found in 2002. Women who were not taking hormones were just as likely to get a mammogram as women who were taking hormones, the study found.
Another separate study conducted by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals found that a women’s risk for breast cancer did not increase during the first two years of use.
The study found that women’s breast cancer risk rose around three years into hormone therapy but returned to normal within two years of quitting estrogen-progestin therapy.
Estrogen-progestin supplements are believed to fuel rather than initiate the growth of cancerous cells within the breasts.
Without taking any hormones, women have a 12 percent chance of getting the disease, and the odds increase with age.
The WHI study also found that estrogen-progestin increased women’s risks of having a stroke, heart attack and dangerous blood clots as well as cancer and decreased the number of fractures the women received as well as cases of colon-cancer.

One-third of women will suffer from complications due to a weak pelvic floor in their lifetime
A study by Kaiser Permanente has found that one in three women will suffer from complications of a weak pelvic floor during her lifetime.
Women can develop a weak pelvic floor despite their activity level, hormonal health and even if she has never given birth.
The pelvic floor keeps all of women’s reproductive organs, levels, layers, folds of skin and openings intact. As the muscles weaken over time, the more the organs and folds shift downward, creating pressure on the bowels and back. This can cause anal and urinary incontinence, overactive bladder activity or a complete drop of the pelvic organs, causing pain or difficulty during sexual activity, including dryness.
Factors such as obesity, smoking, high caffeine intake, chronic constipation or even sitting at desk all day can contribute to a weakened pelvic floor. Women with pelvic problems may also have hip and lower back problems which can aggravate the issue.
Women can fix the problem by undergoing surgery, which has its own complications, or by being fitted for a pessary, which is a conical, ring or square shaped device that helps support the pelvic organs and reduce the stress of incontinence.
The pelvic muscles can be strengthened through kegel exercises to prevent or delay the potential for these problems if done regularly. Tai chi, yoga and Pilates can also help strengthen the body’s core and pelvic floor.

Study says women can use sense of smell to tell what’s on guys’ minds
Women can smell what’s on your mind, a recent study suggests. Researchers at Rice University say that women can tell the difference between a sexual smell and a regular smell. To come to this conclusion, researchers rounded up a group of 20 women and 20 men. They collected sweat samples from the men and had the women smell them. To do this, they asked the men not to wear anything scented for a couple of days. That included deodorant and cologne. The men then placed a pad under their armpits that collected their sweat. The men wore one pad while doing sexual things, such as watching pornography.
Then, they switched it out for a dry pad when they were not doing sexual things. This way, researchers had a “sexual” sweat and a “nonsexual” sweat. Then, the women smelled the pads, while hooked up to a machine that recorded their brain waves. Depending on which pads they were sniffing, researchers found the women’s brains responded very differently. The sexual smell activated a certain part of their brains that the nonsexual smell did not activate. The sexual smell triggered the right fusiform cortex and the right orbitofrontal cortex. These areas relate to emotion, smell and social response. The nonsexual smells did not activate these portions of the brain, though, researchers found. The study, which was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that the findings indicate humans can interact on chemical signals.

Sexual activity increases likelihood of prostate cancer, study suggests
If you’re young and sexually active, there may be greater things to worry about than STDs. A recent survey found that young men who are very sexually active are much more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who aren’t as active sexually. The UK study surveyed more than 800 men about their sexual history. They found that the more men who were in their 20s and 30s masturbated and had sex, the greater their chance for prostate cancer was.
Researchers said that this phenomenon only occurred in younger men. By the time men reach their 40s, sexual activity doesn’t heavily influence men’s chances of developing prostate cancer, they said. The University of Nottingham looked at about 840 men, about half of whom had prostate cancer before they turned 60. The others were used as controls in the experiment and did not have prostate cancer. Researchers took into account the participants complete sexual history from their 20s on. They were asked how many sexual partners they had, how often they masturbated, how often they engaged in sexual activities and if they had any STDs.
The study’s authors noted that hormones played heavily into the development of prostate cancer, so they wanted to examine hormonal upbringing. Their results broke ground in a rather untraversed area of study regarding prostate cancer. Having at least six female partners, for example, increased men’s risk of prostate cancer by about 8 percent. There was also about an 8 percent increased risk for prostate cancer in men who were the most sexually active compared to those who were not. However, the differences started to wane with age. By their 40s, researchers found few sexual links to prostate cancer.

More men doing yoga than ever before, survey says.
Usually when men and yoga are mentioned in the same sentence, there is something about “watching” and “women” in that sentence. However, a new study may suggest otherwise. A study by the Yoga Journal suggests that men are starting to do more and more yoga. The study says that about 16.5 million men now practice yoga, about 700,000 more than last year. That total represents a roughly 300 percent increase since 2004, the study said.

Men in stressful jobs have more strokes than women do in similar jobs
If work’s got you stressed out, you might want to chill out. A recent study drew a link between stressful work situations and strokes in Japanese men. Researchers at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Japan looked at more than 6,500 Japanese people and looked at their stress levels and work conditions. All of the participants were under the age of 65. The study is a long-ranging one. It started with a series of interviews and physical exams from 1992 and 1995. Then, for the next dozen years, the participants were contacted through interviews for checkups on their status.
Results showed men had the highest risk of job-related stroke. An equal number of men and women participated in the study. However, about 90 men had a stroke during the study’s lifetime and only about 55 women had a stroke. Researchers divided the participants into groups depending on the stressfulness of their jobs. In high-stress jobs, 28 men and 15 women had strokes. In low stress job, 23 men and 15 women suffered strokes. The authors took into consideration the participants over general health history, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, and compensated for these things. Even after doing so, researchers weren’t exactly sure why men suffered more strokes than women in stressful jobs. One of the suggestive explanations is men’s inability to adapt to stressful situations.

Back when Dr. Joel Brenner, a national committee member on sports medicine and fitness for the American Academy of Pediatrics, played youth baseball, he was out on the field four times a week for three months out of the year. Now, Brenner said those same kinds of seasons routinely run six days a week for six months out of the year.
With increased pressure to combat childhood obesity and work toward athletic greatness, more children are turning up with sports-related injuries than ever before.
“There are more activities and more organized sports,” said Brenner, the Medical Director of Sports Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk, Va. “They’re going six to seven days a week. (Children) aren’t giving their bodies a chance to heal.”
This increase in activity has caused lasting damage in many children. An injury to an adult may end their sports season. An injury to a child could wash away their entire career and stunt their growth.
According to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, more than 30 million children in the United States participate in sports every year. Of those, more than 3.5 million injuries are reported each year.
Many are left with overuse injuries, or injuries that happen because they are using the same repetitive motions during sports too often. An overuse injury is basically one that affects a bone, joint or tendon because of repetitive motions with little recovery time, Brenner said. They were once unknown but are now prevalent in many youngsters.
Some overuse injuries are becoming so common that they are even uniquely named, like Little League elbow, which is damage to growth cartilage in the elbow from so much throwing. Some of the most common overuse injuries are knee pain, shin splints, Little League elbow and swimmer’s shoulder.
There are, however, some protective measures that can be taken, said Jennifer Byrd, the Director of Athletic Training at the National Center for Sports Safety. Things such as proper equipment, pitch counts and weight classes can combat overuse injuries. But the sprains, strains and pains will still happen.
“Guidelines can be followed for each sport, but the incident of injury is always there because of the normal wear and tear on the body,” Byrd said.
But the average wear and tear can be detrimental. Many children are playing
sports nonstop throughout the entire calendar year.
Parents and coaches want children to succeed and earn that college scholarship. They want to see children become Olympians one day. Brenner said that’s a remote possibility as less than 1 percent of high school athletes turn professional. Even fewer will make it to the Olympics.
That’s why Brenner doesn’t see the point of juggling multiple sports for the majority of the year.
“When children play sports, they don’t need to do so for six or seven days a week, 12 months out of the year,” Brenner said.
Preventing Overuse Injuries
Any child on any court or field is susceptible to overuse injuries. A few too many pitches or one too many strokes could end their young athletic careers.
Luckily, there are some preventive steps to take to combat and help avoid these types of injuries.
The first is education, Byrd said.
“All parties involved from the athlete to coaches and parents should be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of overuse injuries and to take proper steps of rehab for the injury,” Byrd said.
When children are growing, they are more likely to sustain an injury. That’s why children going through puberty should pay particular attention to the signs of injury.
Overuse injuries are tough to detect. Nothing triggers an overuse injury, like a sudden break or tear. Rather, these develop gradually over time as kids go through the same practices and drills countless times.
Oftentimes, children won’t recognize these injuries because there is no sudden time of injury. If untreated, they can lead to permanent damage or could even lead to long-lasting complications such as arthritis.
It’s not a trip or a fall that will trigger such an injury. Rather, overtraining is the chief cause in overuse injuries.
Naturally, parents and coaches will look for a way to avoid overtraining. But the demands to succeed both as a team and individually still exist.
So how much is too much? That’s a question Brenner routinely fields. There isn’t a magical number, but a resting period is crucial, Brenner said. Children should take at least one or two days off per week to avoid overtraining. In the long run, Brenner said children should take at least two or three months away from sports every year.
“People are putting more time in,” he said. “They feel pressured to train more.”
Enrolling children in the right sports can also help ease the burden. Sports that are organized through recreations areas, schools and clubs usually field certified athletic trainers. A trainer will not only know how to treat injuries, but also how to prevent them.
Protective gear is another basic step that shouldn’t be overlooked. Many sports have common injuries that can easily be avoided. Mouth guards and eye protection should be used in any contact sports, while appropriate padding for other sports such as football and soccer are needed.
A simple acronym — R.I.C.E. — can help treat many common overuse injuries if a doctor or trainer is not immediately available. The steps are: R: Reduce or rest the injured area. I: Ice the injured area for 20 minutes at a time. C: Compress the injury with bandages, splints, boots or an appropriate wrap. E: Elevate the injury above the heart.
The body needs time to heal, but Jamie Croley of Trinity Rehabilitation said finding that time is the biggest challenge he faces.
“As an athletic trainer all I try to do is I try to find a way to break a repetitive cycle of inflammation,” he said.
In addition to ice, Croley also uses electrical stimulation, stretching techniques, ibuprofen and a type of ultrasound to get deep heat into tissue to treat an overuse injury.
To prevent the injuries, Croley suggested athletes work on their form and stretch. With baseball season underway, he suggests pitchers work on rotator cuff exercises or take a break from the mound by playing a different position.
Time off can often be the best antidote.
Playing sports year-round will likely result in injuries, regardless of steps taken before or after the activity.
But an overuse injury can’t occur if muscles, joints and bones are routinely rested.
“Even professional athletes have an off-season,” Brenner said.

Antoinette Grajeda contributed to this report.