WHY BEING A WOMAN OR WORSE A WOMAN WHO LIKES TO SKI CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR KNEE HEALTH WOMEN AND THE ACL

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What is an Anterior Cruciate Ligament and How do You Tear it Anyway?..If You Ski or Play Football You May Already Know the Answer

If you are a woman than your knee is at increased risk of injury and if you are a woman skier than I sure hope your health insurance is current. At least that's the impression I get from the literature about the infamous anterior cruciate ligament knee tear. The knee is one complicated joint. Apparently the knee is even more complicated in women since they seem to get more anterior cruciate ligament tears than men. It's unclear why women suffer ACL tears more often than men. Some experts think the female anatomy may leave women more vulnerable. Others say the female hormone estrogen may weaken the ligaments.


I saw a newspaper article that claimed that the most common serious injury in skiing is a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament. But wait a second... What's a ligament? And what the heck is an anterior cruciate ligament? A ligament is a band of tissue that helps holds bones together or connected at a joint. The knee joint is packed with various ligaments and cartilage shock absorbers called menisici or meniscus for singular. There are knee ligaments as well as knee menisici. The ligaments bands help to stabilize the knee. The anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments criss cross the knee joint. That's why they are called cruciate. For the knee to operate properly the ligaments and the menisci need to be intact.

Why does Twisting Tear the Anterior Cruciate Ligament?

Twisting of the knee that typically causes an ACL injury happens in skiing as well as football, basketball and soccer. "A football player, for example, might twist his knee running in a zigzag pattern or have it hyper extended during a tackle". In basketball, for example, a would be Michael Jordan might plant his/her foot and then quickly change direction, turning the knee too far.



As I said, anterior cruciate ligament tears are a frequent knee injury especially in sports. "Orthopedists at leading medical centers estimate that several thousand children and young adolescents are getting A.C.L. tears each year, with the number being diagnosed soaring recently. Some centers that used to see only a few such cases a year are now seeing several each week".



"As many as eight times more girls than boys are suffering the acl tears, doctors report. In fact there have been reports that women who play sports are more susceptible to anterior cruciate ligament knee injuries". Twisting motions can cause a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, scenarios such as when the foot is firmly planted in the ground and the knee is pointed in another direction.

Why are ACL Tears in Skiing Going Up and What May Help.. A New Device

According to a study even though skiing is getting safer overall, "ACL tears soared by 103 percent from 1972 and 2006"." The focal point in ski safety is the ACL "and
"not surprisingly a lot of people have tried to solve the problem...Others have tried to combat the anterior cruciate ligament problem by redesigning the ski binding...A new device called the KneeBinding was shipped to certain ski stores..This binding sense and reacts to the signature load that occurs just before the ACL tears, said Rick Howell, a former college ski racer who invented the KneeBinding."

Avoiding the Dreaded Knee Pop

CARDIOLOGIST STUDIES SUGGEST FUNNY MOVIES FOR THE HEART MAY BE NO JOKE

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What Does Monty Python Have to do with the Heart?

A Video about Heart Health

I went to a cardiologist yesterday and he told me to go watch the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off or Monthy Python... Actually that didn't happen but it could have. Watching a funny movie could be good for your heart. "Laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” says principal investigator Michael Miller, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center". Using laughter-provoking movies to gauge the effect of emotions on cardiovascular health, researchers at the school suggest that laughter is linked to healthy function of blood vessels. The endothelium is the inner lining of the blood vessels. You may not know it but the blood vessels can dilate (become wider). One of the signs of good cardiovascular function is the flexibility of the blood vessels to dilate. Interestingly, drugs like Viagra improve the dilation qualities of blood vessels. That is how it was discovered when scientists were looking for new heart medicines. Too much dilation can cause low blood pressure and thus the warnings about these drugs in some people, but I digress.


Here is a video about the heart from the same doctor in the laughter and heart study Click the arrow

What is the Connection Between the Inner Lining of the Blood Vessels and the Heart?

“The endothelium is the first line in the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, so, given the results of our study, it is conceivable that "laughing may be important to maintain a healthy endothelium, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” says principal investigator Michael Miller, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine".






Anyway, "When the same group of study volunteers was shown a movie that produced mental stress,(in this case Saving Private Ryan) their blood vessel lining developed a potentially unhealthy response called vasoconstriction (blood vessels getting narrower, opposite of dilation), reducing blood flow... The study included a group of 20 non-smoking, healthy volunteers, equally divided between men and women, whose average age was 33. The participants had normal blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels. Each volunteer was shown part of two movies at the extreme ends of the emotional spectrum. They were randomized to first watch either a movie that would cause mental stress, such as the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” (DreamWorks, 1998), or a segment of a movie that would cause laughter, such as “King Pin” (MGM, 1996). A minimum of 48 hours later, they were shown a movie intended to produce the opposite emotional extreme... That finding confirms previous studies, which suggested there was a link between mental stress and the narrowing of blood vessels".








"The endothelium has a powerful effect on blood vessel tone and regulates blood flow, adjusts coagulation and blood thickening, and secretes chemicals and other substances in response to wounds, infections or irritation. It also plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease".

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDY SHOWS LAUGHTER HELPS BLOOD VESSELS FUNCTION BETTER

SHOULD I GET HEART SCAN IT DEPENDS WHICH CARDIOLOGIST YOU ASK

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Should I get a heart scan? That's the question many people ask faced with a barrage of advertisements touting the benefits of a heart scan. Now a new study in the New England Journal has poured fuel on the flames of controversy. You know the ads that go something like "My name is Joe Smith and I didn't know anything was wrong but my wife convinced me to get a heart scan and they found out I had blocked arteries". Previously I wrote in healty medical Blog that Medicare had decided to continue to pay for a non invasive test for heart problems called a CT heart scan or ultra fast CT or electron beam CT scan for calcium in the arteries (blood vessels) of people who have symptoms of heart disease.


Video Heart Scan CT Click the Arrow





Heart scans, heart CT scans or electron beam CT test are touted as a non invasive way to look for heart disease and chances of a heart attack. It's not a simple decision even for doctors. It's a common problem in medicine where the old conservatism of many doctors meets science and the profit motive. Doctors would like to find a non invasive test (that is where you don't stick things inside the person) to detect and predict heart disease and who is going to have a heart attack. But do you need an invasive and potentially dangerous angiogram to do it or is there an easier way? Now a new study in the New England Journal has poured fuel on the flames of controversy.






Coronary arteries are the blood vessels that supply the heart itself. If a coronary artery is blocked so that blood doesn't flow to a part of the heart it causes a heart attack. One of the most informative heart tests to look for blocked coronary arteries in the heart is a coronary angiogram. But a coronary angiogram involves inserting a catheter into the blood vessels and has some risks. Generally an angiogram is recommended when there are indications of blocked heart arteries. So for example, when David Letterman had chest pains his doctors wanted him to get an angiogram to look for blockage. A non invasive test for coronary artery blockage would encourage more people to get tested.




Writing about the NEJ study, the NY Times writes there is "a deep rift among heart specialists over the use of the 64 slice or CT angiography which produces mesmerizing 3-D images of the heart and blood vessels". In the NE Journal Study "researchers assessed the accuracy of Ct angiography in identifying blockages of 50 percent or greater in patient's arteries". "Slightly more than half of the patients had obstructive coronary artery disease (blockage)and the CT heart scans were almost as accurate as conventional angiography in diagnosing the blockages".



So what does this mean? Well, like almost everything in medicine, it depends who you ask. According to Dr. Redberg, "the study had failed to address the most important questions about CT scans: whether they improve patient outcomes". Also the CT scan misclassifed the severity of disease in 13 percent of patients she pointed out". On the other hand, Dr. Lima of Johns Hopkins "suggested that Ct angiography could be a good screening test for patients not known to have heart disease who develop sudden chest pain".

Medicare Will Still Pay for Heart Scan

Cardiologists Debate Expensive Heart Scan

Diagnostic Performance of Coronary Angiography by 64 Row CT

GUEST POST: Trusting your Doctor – Is it the Right Treatment?

Welcome to All Scrubbed Up's 4th guest blogger... Sarah Scrafford! Enjoy her views on the patient-doctor relationships. We think this one may draw some comments...

There are some people who treat their doctors like Gods – they think they can do no wrong, that they can cure any malaise, and that they have their best interests at heart. And then there are others who are extremely reluctant to trust anyone connected to the medical field, who move from doctor to doctor in search of the perfect one they can trust but never find one at all, and who generally prefer to treat themselves unless it’s a life-threatening situation. In my opinion, neither extreme is advisable – while you must trust your doctor to do the best for you, it’s also prudent to exercise caution and do a bit of research before you throw yourself at the complete mercy of a total stranger.

We hear horror stories of medical malpractices that occur because of both negligence and/or incompetency; the victims of these tragedies escape with no lasting damage if they’re lucky, but if they’re not, they could end up with chronic conditions, or worse, die. Medical lawsuits are extremely complicated affairs that end up becoming costly and difficult to prove, which is why it’s best to be prepared and do your homework before going to a doctor to seek treatment:

* Talk to other patients: Before you commit yourself to going under the knife of a particular surgeon, talk to his or her other patients so that you get proper feedback from the right sources. Long time patients are your best bet – they’re the ones who know exactly how competent and how trustworthy your soon-to-be physician is.

* Check the Internet: Some doctors have a web presence, but then again, you can’t believe their own publicity. Run a search to see if people have blogged about their efficiencies or inefficiencies – this being the age of free and available information, most people are not hesitant to air their views from a public soapbox, especially when the medium is as vast and diverse as the World Wide Web.

* Talk to your doctor itself: Some doctors are open to honest communication, and if you’re a good judge of character, you’ll know if you’re in good hands or not.

* Use relatives or close friends in the medical community: People who have close connections to the medical industry are usually in the inner loop regarding doctors and their methods of treatment. If you know someone in the medical community, don’t hesitate to pick their brains and seek their opinion.

* Bedside manner is not everything: Don’t be fooled by the bedside manner of doctors – that’s all there is to some of them. Style over substance never works, more so when it’s a question of your life. So take what doctors say with a pinch of salt, and double check your facts if you want to life a long and healthy life.

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This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of Radiology Technician Schools. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.

VIDEOS ABOUT DIAGNOSTIC AND SCREENING TESTS FOR BREAST CANCER MAMMOGRAMS MRI AND VITAMIN D

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There is a lot of research, discussion and study of breast cancer. Is there a connection between nutrition and breast cancer? What is the difference between a diagnostic and screening mammogram? And what about an MRI for breast cancer? Are there any new tests that detect breast cancer earlier? It's confusing even for doctors as you can see by these posts from healty medical Blog.
For example, how about a so called "pap smear for breast cancer"?

Pap Smear Like Test for Breast Cancer









And recently I wrote about a spitting test for a genetic propensity for breast cancer.

Scientists Get Jewish Women to Spit in Breast Cancer Study

And the story of Christina Applegate highlighted the role of MRI in breast cancer.

Christina Applegate and MRI and Screening for Breast Cancer





And more....

How to Do a Breast Self Exam and Why It Matters

Low Vitamin D Study of Possible Connection with Breast Cancer

Whats the Difference Between a Diagnostic and Screening Mammogram