Marion County Medical Center

Health Shorts

April 2007

Torn Ligaments: When To Seek Help
Most Americans have suffered a sprained ankle, wrist or knee at one time or another. And there’s always the question of whether the injury is serious enough to see a doctor. The swelling and pain you experience are probably the result of bleeding from a torn ligament and should be treated with RICE–rest, ice, compression and elevation.

In most cases, a slight tear will heal on its own, but a complete or even a severe partial tear requires a doctor’s attention. Among the signs of severe injury are: popping or tearing at the time of injury; immediate (rather than delayed) bruising; sudden and significant swelling; obvious deformity; locking or instability of the joint (looseness or bending the wrong way) and loss of function. If the pain is still severe after two days of self treatment, call a doctor.
[SOURCE: “Healthwise Handbook–Strains, Sprains and Factures,” 2004; James G. Garrick, “Acute Sports Injuries of the Knee: When To Treat, When To Refer,” Consultant, September, 1997]

Knee Surgery for Your Child?
Your 14-year-old daughter suffered a knee injury on the soccer field, and your doctor is talking about the possibility of surgery? There’s good reason to be taken aback, but it’s possible that surgery is the best solution.

Injury to ligaments along the side of the knee can often be treated with rest, bracing and physical therapy, but moderate to severe tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the center of the knee usually does require surgery to prevent later knee problems. To protect growth plates, a modified surgical approach is needed.

Once considered rare in adolescents, ACL injuries are becoming increasingly common with the increased popularity of soccer.
[SOURCE: Colin Moseley, M.D., “Partial Tears of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in Children,” American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, March 16, 2006; “Adolescent Knee Injuries,”The Cleveland Clinic Information Center, updated March 22, 2007]

Exercise Doesn’t Cause Arthritis
If you’re a long-term runner or walker in your 50s or 60s, don’t let anyone scare you away from your routine. A study published in Arthritis Care and Research [February, 2007] confirmed that regular exercise does not cause osteoarthritis of the knees, even in persons who are overweight.

The study involved 1,279 offspring of the original Framingham Heart study who were questioned about their physical activity and followed with a series of knee x-rays. Results showed no relationship between walking, running or other regular exercise and the development of osteoarthritis of the knee.
[SOURCE: “Exercise Has No Effect on Risk of Knee Osteoarthritis,” Arthritis Care, February, 2007]

Hernia Linked to Collagen Impairment
A hernia occurs when tissue from inside pushes out through a weakness in the abdominal wall. And it’s now believed that this happens not just because of the pressure caused by lifting or straining but because of an impairment in collagen metabolism that weakens abdominal muscles.

Persons who suffer hernias also tend to have a higher risk of diverticulitis (associated with a weakness in the intestinal wall) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (a weakness in the aorta).
[SOURCE: Parviz K. Amid, Michael Graham and Calvin A. Selwyn Jr., “Abdominal Hernia: Emerging Trends in Diagnosis and Management,” Patient Care for the Nurse Practitioner, May, 2005]

Hernia Surgery Safe Even for Elderly
Even elderly patients with other medical conditions such as heart disease have undergone hernia surgery safely. In one study of 175 patients older than 66 years, there were no deaths and few complications, even though half of the patients had severe systemic disease and 22 percent had undergone coronary bypass graft surgery.
[SOURCE: Andrew Kingsworth and Karl LeBlanc, “Hernias: Inguinal and Incisional,” The Lancet, November 8, 2003]

Medication or Massage for Pain?
Pain-killing medications have established a good track record for managing pain and 28 percent of respondents to a survey rated them their best source of pain relief. Yet an equal percentage rated massage as their number one pain therapy. Other top-rated sources of pain relief were chiropractic treatment, 16 percent; physical therapy, eight percent; acupuncture, three percent; and biofeedback, one percent.
[SOURCE: Daniel DeNoon, “Need Pain Relief? Massage Gets High Marks,” WebMD Health News, October 26, 2005]

Foot Massage Reduces Anxiety
Massage is often recommended to cancer patients as a way of dealing with pain, anxiety and depression. In one study of 87 cancer patients, most found a 10-minute foot massage to have an immediate effect on pain, nausea and relaxation. They recommended it as complementary therapy. Another study of breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy foot massage an effective way of reducing anxiety and depression.
[SOURCE: Vijaya Puthusseril, “‘Special Foot Massage’ as a Complementary Therapy in Palliative Care,” Indian Journal of Palliative Care, July-December, 2006]

Massage Helps Relieve Back Pain
Traditional therapy for low back pain involves medication plus physical therapy. Massage and chiropractic care are often recommended as alternative or complementary treatments. In comparing the two, one recent study found that traditional therapy was more effective, but only slightly so, compared to massage therapy. The authors found that “the decline in pain using massage therapy was significant” and that massage becomes increasingly effective as treatment progresses.
[SOURCE: Bryan Melancon and Lucy H. Miller, “Massage Therapy versus Traditional Therapy for Low Back Pain Relief: Implications for Holistic Nursing Practice,” Holistic Nursing Practice, May-June, 2005]

ACL Injuries Among Women Soar
Sports participation among young women has increased 800 percent since 1972, and one consequence is an increase in tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee. ACL tears occur two to eight times more frequently among women than men.
Some have theorized that women’s greater susceptibility may be due to differences in anatomical structure, hormones or training methods, but no adequate explanation has been found.

Preventive programs have focused on stretching and strengthening drills combined with specific avoidance techniques.
[SOURCE: Holly J. Silvers, MPT, and Bert R. Mandelbaum, M.D., “Are ACL Tears Preventable in the Female Athlete?” Medscape Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, 2002; Thomas H. Trojan and Seamus Collins, “The Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Rate Varies by Race in Professional Women’s Basketball,” The American Journal of Sports Medicine, June, 2006]

Balding Doesn’t Make You Look Old
Men who become bald worry that it makes them look old, but a twin study of men in their 70s suggested otherwise. When subjects were asked to view pictures of the men and guess their ages, no correlation was found between degree of balding and overestimation of age.

About 20 percent of men with genetically determined hair loss have noticeable balding by age 20.
[SOURCE: Helle Rexbye, et al, “Hair Loss among Elderly Men: Etiology and Impact on Perceived Age,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series, August, 2005; D.R. Nyholt, et al, “The Heritability of Early Onset Male Pattern Baldness,” American Journal of Human Genetics, October 2001]

Massage for Hair Loss?
Don’t believe anyone who tells you massage will grow hair on a bald head. Nevertheless, a case can be made for physical activity and body work as preventive measures that promote healthy hair.

Stress, arthritis and tightness of the neck and spine can restrict blood flow to the scalp. Massage, yoga and physical activity, on the other hand, reduce tension, allowing increased blood flow to the head and scalp.
[SOURCE: Tim Batchelder, “The Anthropology of Hair Loss,” Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,” May, 2003]

Cancer, Chemotherapy and Hair Loss
Most Americans are aware that chemotherapy for cancer often induces hair loss. But even though this effect is expected and usually temporary, its effect on patients is often profound, sometimes leading to refusal of treatment, depression and loss of self confidence.

One reason, according to studies, is that hair loss serves as a constant reminder of the cancer state and of the patient as a victim. One woman with breast cancer said that every time she looked at her bald head in the mirror, she thought, “cancer.” Some patients talked of their bald head as a “neon sign,” announcing to others their status as cancer patients. While a wig or hat gave them some degree of privacy, they sometimes felt guilty denying or covering up their illness.
[SOURCE: Paula Kuzbit, “The Importance of Hair: Far from Being Accepted by Men, Chemotherapy-Induced Hair Loss Has Profound Implications on Their Well Being, Including Body Image and Social Support Aspects,” Cancer Nursing Practice, October, 2004]

How Much Liquid in Your Diet?
Do you ever have a liquid lunch? Do you just sip on the run all day? Or do you ignore calories you get from soft drinks?
A study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that the average American gets 22 percent of daily calories from beverages and that most fail to count these calories as part of their diet. Another study found that subjects ate about the same amount of solid food regardless of which beverage they were served–cola, diet cola or water.
[SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December, 2006; “Beverages Total 22% of US Calories–But Who’s Counting?” Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, March, 2007]

Are You Ready To Start Exercising?
If you’re ready to start an exercise and weight loss program, the American Heart Association (AHA) is ready to help you log your progress. The “Start! Program” at the AHA website (www.americanheart.org/start) allows you to track what you eat and how much you exercise each day, then calculates your progress for you.
[SOURCE: “Heart Association Wants You to ‘Start’,” Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, March, 2007]

Health Shorts

April 2007

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