The controversy over whether cheerleading should be classified as a sport or an activity is ongoing. One thing that is not disputed is that cheerleaders are athletes with athletic injuries.
Cheerleading first became prominent in the late 19th century in Ivy League schools. In the 1920s, it became more common in other universities. Interestingly, it was a male-dominated activity until the 1940s when many men had enlisted in the military.
The two venues today for cheerleading are scholastic, where the emphasis is placed on energizing the crowd for a sporting event, and competitive, consisting of cheerleading squads that compete in front of judges for points.
The basic cheerleading skills include tumbling, jumping and stunting. Stunting involves complex formations of team members and airborne acrobatics. As cheerleading has evolved, it is stunting that has gained the most attention.
The participants in stunting are classified as “base” and “flyers.”
Several recent publications have looked at the most dangerous youth sports. Cheerleading is on all these lists and considered the most dangerous in a report published by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.
Lower extremity injuries are the most common and include sprains and strains. The most catastrophic injuries involve the brain and spinal cord in the form of traumatic brain injuries and spinal injuries that result in temporary or permanent paralysis.
These injuries have been on the rise due to the growing popularity of cheerleading and the increasing complexity of the stunts being performed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has called for changes to make cheerleading safer. Among these is the need for coaches at all levels to be properly trained and certified to direct stunting maneuvers and be able to recognize head injuries.
Parents should not be shy about inquiring about any coach’s credentials when it comes to their child’s safety.
Dr. Alessi is a neurologist in Norwich and serves as an on-air contributor for ESPN. He is director of UConn NeuroSport and can be reached at agalessi@uchc.edu
Learning about shin splints and leg pain
Long distance runners are in the midst of both cross-country and marathon running seasons. Running on trails or asphalt can lead to lower leg pain. Shin splints, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, is a general term used to describe lower leg pain.
The lower portion of the leg consists of two large bones: the tibia and the fibula. A membrane between these bones, the interosseous membrane and the anterior intermuscular septum, form four compartments. These compartments consist of an intricate network of muscles, arteries, veins and nerves that allows the ankle to move in multiple directions.
Shin splints are often associated with changes in running patterns. They can be attributed to using different types of footwear including excessively worn running shoes, rapidly increasing running distances and association with other injuries in the same or opposite extremity.
Compartment syndrome is among the most serious conditions that may be mistaken for shin splints. This syndrome consists of increased pressure within one of the four compartments of the lower leg. The increased pressure is a direct result of an injury causing swelling within a closed space.
The increased compartment pressure results in an inability for venous blood to drain and arterial blood to enter. The consequence is a lack of nutrients and oxygenated blood to muscles and nerves causing these tissues to atrophy and cease to function.
“The first step in treating shin splints is to find the cause,” reports Ms. Janeen Beetle, head athletic trainer at Norwich Free Academy. “Ice cup massage combined with anti-inflammatory medications provides the best treatment. Strengthening lower extremity muscles can help prevent recurrences.”
Careful evaluation of lower leg pain can avoid serious complications.
Dr. Alessi is a neurologist in Norwich and serves as an on-air contributor for ESPN. He is director of UConn NeuroSport and can be reached at agalessi@uchc.edu
The lower portion of the leg consists of two large bones: the tibia and the fibula. A membrane between these bones, the interosseous membrane and the anterior intermuscular septum, form four compartments. These compartments consist of an intricate network of muscles, arteries, veins and nerves that allows the ankle to move in multiple directions.
Shin splints are often associated with changes in running patterns. They can be attributed to using different types of footwear including excessively worn running shoes, rapidly increasing running distances and association with other injuries in the same or opposite extremity.
Compartment syndrome is among the most serious conditions that may be mistaken for shin splints. This syndrome consists of increased pressure within one of the four compartments of the lower leg. The increased pressure is a direct result of an injury causing swelling within a closed space.
The increased compartment pressure results in an inability for venous blood to drain and arterial blood to enter. The consequence is a lack of nutrients and oxygenated blood to muscles and nerves causing these tissues to atrophy and cease to function.
“The first step in treating shin splints is to find the cause,” reports Ms. Janeen Beetle, head athletic trainer at Norwich Free Academy. “Ice cup massage combined with anti-inflammatory medications provides the best treatment. Strengthening lower extremity muscles can help prevent recurrences.”
Careful evaluation of lower leg pain can avoid serious complications.
Dr. Alessi is a neurologist in Norwich and serves as an on-air contributor for ESPN. He is director of UConn NeuroSport and can be reached at agalessi@uchc.edu
What does CTE really mean?
The recent information that former New England Patriots football player, Aaron Hernandez, was found to have evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) at autopsy has been followed by multiple opinions and at least one lawsuit.
Before drawing conclusions it is important to understand CTE and what the initial scientific studies really mean.
CTE is a diagnosis based on post-mortem findings of the brain. The diagnosis is actually a refinement of the previous findings of Dr. Harrison Martland, a medical examiner in Newark, N.J., who first described post-mortem changes in the brains of boxers in 1928.
A hallmark of CTE is the presence of tau protein, a substance that naturally occurs in nerve cells and appears to leak from the cells with repeated head trauma. The amount and distribution of the staining for tau coincide with the severity of CTE.
Although the predominant studies have been done on a group of deceased football players, many of whom have faced some life challenges, a direct causation between football and CTE has not been established.
One challenge with this condition is the fact that this can only be diagnosed after death. A study published last week in the journal PLOS ONE reports the identification of a potential biomarker to diagnose CTE in the living. The protein, known as CCL11, can be found in the spinal fluid of patients suspected of suffering from CTE.
It is important to note that no one has firmly linked the actions of someone with the CTE findings. The only thing we do know is that there are changes in the brain after repeated blows.
CTE research is ongoing and there is much to learn about chronic brain injury and its relation to sports. It is unfair and dangerous to make clinical assumptions that affect society and peoples’ lives at this early stage of investigation.
Dr. Alessi is a neurologist in Norwich and serves as an on-air contributor for ESPN. He is director of UConn NeuroSport and can be reached at agalessi@uchc.edu
Before drawing conclusions it is important to understand CTE and what the initial scientific studies really mean.
CTE is a diagnosis based on post-mortem findings of the brain. The diagnosis is actually a refinement of the previous findings of Dr. Harrison Martland, a medical examiner in Newark, N.J., who first described post-mortem changes in the brains of boxers in 1928.
A hallmark of CTE is the presence of tau protein, a substance that naturally occurs in nerve cells and appears to leak from the cells with repeated head trauma. The amount and distribution of the staining for tau coincide with the severity of CTE.
Although the predominant studies have been done on a group of deceased football players, many of whom have faced some life challenges, a direct causation between football and CTE has not been established.
One challenge with this condition is the fact that this can only be diagnosed after death. A study published last week in the journal PLOS ONE reports the identification of a potential biomarker to diagnose CTE in the living. The protein, known as CCL11, can be found in the spinal fluid of patients suspected of suffering from CTE.
It is important to note that no one has firmly linked the actions of someone with the CTE findings. The only thing we do know is that there are changes in the brain after repeated blows.
CTE research is ongoing and there is much to learn about chronic brain injury and its relation to sports. It is unfair and dangerous to make clinical assumptions that affect society and peoples’ lives at this early stage of investigation.
Dr. Alessi is a neurologist in Norwich and serves as an on-air contributor for ESPN. He is director of UConn NeuroSport and can be reached at agalessi@uchc.edu
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