Feature Articles: Sports Medicine

Sports For All, But Not Without A Price

Majdi Ashchi,. D.O., FACC, FCC,
Interventional Cardiologist, Jacksonville, FL

Sedentary people to super star athletes of all ages endure the risk of sports injury. Sport science has greatly widened our scope and understanding of the diseases, types of injury, treatment and prevention in this patient population. With first hand experience and having been a spinal cord injury patient, I feel that physiatry (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) has not only given me the potential to full recovery but also filled the gap between injury/surgery to full recovery. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation working in conjunction with other specialties (Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Neurology, etc.) has completed the link in the full care of physically injured patients. The rehabilitation team (Physiatrists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, etc) becomes an integral part of the patient's daily life and in some cases for months to years. It is often the only part of the injury recovery cycle that a patient wishes to remember. They are often the only team to know, understand, and relate to what a patient is going through both physically and emotionally. They become like your teammate in a sports team.

Sports activity at all levels and in all ages improves not only the physical and mental state of the individual person but also his or her socialization. This could not be more true than in the elderly patient. Dr. Soon Ahn's article gave a nice concise summary of the benefits of exercise and the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) guidelines for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory & muscular fitness.

The modern high speed sports and high speed vehicular trauma with the increasing athletic participation has increased all types and the severity of injuries. Dr.Farid Hakim's article eloquently reviews two common knee injuries, meniscal tear and ACL tear. Fortunately, both injuries have "excellent" reconstruction results in experienced orthopedic surgeons.

Cancer ("C") spares no one including athletes. Dr.Thomas D. Rizzo's article " Athletes and Cancer " was an excellent summary and review of the current association between athletic life choices and cancer. It gave a unique framework and a different angle for addressing the athletic patient's interests in the setting of a cancer diagnosis. Until the recent past, athletes and celebrities who had cancer did not make their disease public. Currently, many of the athletes and celebrities continue to participate in their work despite the big "C" and are open and visible to the public and have set an excellent example of what they can do in spite of their cancer diagnosis. Many of them have been very active and promoting health, physical activity and increasing awareness of the different diseases they are afflicted with. They have added tremendously to research and funding despite their disease and pains.

There is no one without the risk of injury or disease. Promoting exercise with guidelines is one of the tools for prevention and maintenance of health. The price of injury is certainly more costly than its prevention. Moderation is one of the keys of life. In my opinion, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation has completed the missing link in the care of a physically injured patient.

Jacksonville Medicine / August/September, 2001

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