The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) recently approved new rules governing the eligibility of women with hyperandrogenism for competition. The IAAF aims to avoid future controversy similar to “the case” of Caster Semenya who won the World Championship in 2009 for the 800 m in Berlin (watch race here). 3 weeks prior to the […]
Category: General
Obituary for Professor Eric Arthur Newsholme, MA, DSc, (PhD, ScD Camb)
By Lindy Castell Eric Newsholme died peacefully in hospital from heart failure a few hours after slipping into a coma on 17th March 2011. Although those of us who were close to him were well aware of his heart and circulation problems over several years, it was nevertheless a shock and, as many have observed, […]
Good medicine: sports medicine. A response to recent criticism of sports medicine in BMJ
Guest blog by Dr. Malachy McHugh If the purpose of Des Spence’s article Bad Medicine: Sports Medicine (British Medical Journal, March 30 2011) is to strike a chord with sports medicine professionals then it has probably done its job. However, as a piece of scientific writing this lacks objectivity to put it mildly. The sports medicine […]
Vicenzino’s Mobilization with Movement – at last my scientific mind can rest! Guest Blog by Erin Macri, PT
Book review of Mobilization with Movement: The Art and the Science (2011) by Bill Vicenzino, Wayne Hing, Darren Rivett and Toby Hall I clearly remember the first time I took a course in Mobilization with Movement (MWM). My entry level physical therapy training was purely biomechanical in its approach to understanding and explaining the effects of […]
Dr Christopher Hughes on Safeguarding Patients – Whistleblowing in Sport and Exercise Medicine
Guest blog by Dr Christopher Hughes: VS. A footballer comes back from a trip abroad having undergone some questionable intervention from a dubious practitioner using an unconventional, non-evidence-based rationale (see example here )…. An independent healthcare practitioner recommends a costly series of procedures for an athlete for an indication when current evidence points to the […]
EVIDENCE-BASED considerations for the Prevention of Heat related illness in Marathon Training (part 2)
Continuing our discussion of marathon issues, here are key guidelines from BJSM Associate Editor Professor Tim Noakes: 10 Recommendations for the Prevention of Heat illness: 1. Perform adequate conditioning. The athlete must have trained appropriately and be conditioned for the planned activity. 2. Undergo acclimatization if competing in unaccustomed heat or humidity. 3. Avoid adverse […]
EVIDENCE-BASED considerations for the Prevention of Heat related illness in Marathon Training (part 1)
The packs of runners visible on many urban landscapes are a clear sign that distance road race season is upon us. As professional and amateur competitors get ready for their big events, lots of advice and suggestions are bouncing around the Internet. One of the most common misconceptions is that athletes should over-hydrate before races […]
Can Exercise Advice be ‘Made to Stick’?
The Sports Physiotherapist website opens up the topic of evidence-based exercise prescription – we wouldn’t examine the knee by just starting anywhere through the process and randomly poking parts – we use the evidence to examine the knee in a logical way! If the most important therapy is exercise (Church 2009) why do only few […]
New BJSM Warm up! Tendinopathy: no longer a ‘one size fits all’ diagnosis
Lots of exciting new tendon research presented in the April 2011 issue of BJSM (view online here!). As an introductory taste, here’s an excerpt of the Warm up by Jill Cook: Tendinopathy: no longer a ‘one size fits all’ diagnosis Tendon research has come a long way. So far, in fact, that 120 tendon-interested clinicians […]
‘Theft of wellness’ or preventive medicine?
As clinicians we are always challenged to ‘primum non nocere’ – first of all do no harm. Unfortunately, this is not so easy – as those who have died as a results of iatrogenesis know only too well. Ray Moynihan has been at the forefront of ‘critical self-reflection’ in our professions and he was in […]