Guest blog: Do athletes with prosthetic limbs have an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes?

    Abhishek Chitnis 3rd Year Medical Student Keele University Email: v0z55@students.keele.ac.uk The use of prosthetic limbs in medicine has helped many patients over millennia lead a more comfortable life, enabling them to continue their activities of daily living as well as to compete in sport. In developing countries, prosthetic limbs are mainly used because […]

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Who is to blame for all the football injuries?

John Orchard, BJSM guest blog (@DrJohnOrchard) Another major football tournament is on – Euro 2012 – and those following the England team keep reading (yet again) about the number of injured players. Why do injuries seem to be more prevalent than ever if our professionalism is supposedly improving? In trying to answer this question, why […]

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Sudden Cardiac Death screening: notes of caution

By Lynley Anderson & Lynne Bowyer Bioethics Centre, University of Otago In his guest post on the BJSM Blog entitled ‘Call for NHS to review its policy on screening of young people at risk of sudden cardiac death’ Dr Steven Cox laments the decision of the National Screening Committee not to offer screening to young athletes […]

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Calling on physical activists and physical activity experts – PLEASE HELP!

Guest blog by: Christine Neyndorff & Dr. Richard Weiler The Hertfordshire County (United Kingdom) ‘Health and Wellbeing Board’ is a new partnership, which thinks it will deliver real improvements in people’s health and wellbeing, without physical activity being a priority. The Board has representatives from the National Health Service, councils and the Hertfordshire Local Involvement Network […]

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Injury prevention in high level snowboard: A need to return to first principles?

 Guest blog by @CarolineFinch In the recent BJSM blog Is high level snowboard too dangerous to allow your children to participate? Prof Engebretsen raises an important question, namely how to prevent injuries in a sport where pushing the extremes of physical performance in challenging and harsh environments is both an individual athlete and sporting organisation goal.[1] Most recent advances in […]

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Born to run or shoes are made for running? Adding science to the strident debate.

Guest blog by George Murley There is an increasingly strident debate on the use of minimalist/barefoot versus traditional sports footwear in running, and there appear to be advocates for both sides who believe there is no need for a rational discussion. The debate appears to have escalated following publications by Richards and colleagues (2008) ‘Is […]

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Persistent dehydration MYTHS: Prof Tim Noakes comments on BJSM’s reader poll

BJSM reader poll results By Tim Noakes Only 12% of the BJSM readers who answered the poll were correct – this speaks to the power of the prevailing dogma and marketing messages. Readers have clearly been influenced by the “Science of Hydration.” This mythical concept developed by the sports drink industry during the late 1980s […]

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Shining a light on tendinopathy: expensive treatments vs established therapies

By Dr. Bert Fields   As a busy sports medicine physician I see an increasing number of patients pursuing unproven and often expensive treatments before they have tried established therapies with stronger evidence.  One example of this is a recent patient who saw advertising for a cold laser that they purchased from an internet site. […]

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To Strike or Not to Strike? That’s not the only question (for running and injury prevention)

Running biomechanics and footwear’s (from bare feet to orthotics) relationship to injury generates lively debate.  And not just among sports clincians. A recent NY times article boldly asked – Does Foot Form Explain Running Injuries? The article profile’s the running professor, Daniel Lieberman’s (Evolutionary Biologist, Harvard) and Mr. Daoud’s (Medical Student, Stanford) research on 4 […]

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