Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Thoughts on Boston
In my role as the Web Editor for the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine I write a blog and I just wrote a new post on the tragic events happening in Boston yesterday: check it out if you get a chance and pass it on! Thanks.
Friday, April 12, 2013
The Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine
I am very happy to share the news that I have been recently appointed to be an Associate Editor for the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, where my special 'portfolio' will be Web Editor. I will maintain the CJSM blog, Twitter feed and Facebook pages. I'd love if you started to peek in on those sites and pass the news on. And please do share your thoughts with me, as I would love to converse with folks about the growing world of sports medicine on both the Journal venues as well as this personal blog. See you on line!
Tuesday, November 06, 2012
Physical Activity and Physical Space
On Election Day, a political statement is in order.
I spent my morning canvassing in the adjacent town of Whitehall, Ohio, a mixed ethnic and socioeconomic area adjacent to my home of Bexley.
Come the afternoon, I was trying to catch up on my public health classes, but was feeling anxious about the election, and needed to get on the bike to burn off some steam. I wound my way down the road to Hanford Village.
What a find! Hanford Village is a tiny community in the midst of Columbus which has an impressive history as a place with tidy, small homes settled by returning African-American veterans after WWII. I would love to have seen what it looked like in the 40's and 50's. The homes are still fetching.
There is a sadness to the Hanford story however; the building of an Interstate in the 70's literally and physically cut the village off from the surrounding city. The built environment around Hanford is a bit bizarre: it essentially is completely surrounded by the Interstate and busy access roads. The village itself can't be more than half a square mile. There are sidewalks within the village, but one more or less takes their life into their hands if they walk or bike out of the village: you're either heading on to Interstate, or heading on to access roads with no shoulders and lots of cars none too eager to share the road.
I need to learn more about the history of how the decision was made to have Interstate 70 bifurcate Hanford. I suspect it would resemble the history of how other 'marginal' communities are often left out of discussions on how the urban environment is designed.
Biking around the city, I am frequently struck by how the built environment conspires to restrict people's free movement. Furthermore, I am struck by how these restrictions are disproportionately placed on minorities, and people of lower socioeconomic class. The residents of this quaint village would be hard pressed to get much moderate to vigorous physical activity within their own space. What ease I have in nearby Bexley to walk, bike or run for miles on safe streets, with sidewalks and limited traffic. Shame on me if I can't stay in shape in a place like that.
As a country, as we combat the epidemic of obesity, we will need to address the limitations of the built environment in our cities. We will need to do this together and, yes, with an assist from the government.
With that thought in mind, I had a smile on my face as I rode through and around Hanford: under the shining sun and blue sky there were a multitude of blue Obama/Biden banners.
Here's to the re-election of President Barack Obama. Let's turn Ohio blue!
I spent my morning canvassing in the adjacent town of Whitehall, Ohio, a mixed ethnic and socioeconomic area adjacent to my home of Bexley.
Come the afternoon, I was trying to catch up on my public health classes, but was feeling anxious about the election, and needed to get on the bike to burn off some steam. I wound my way down the road to Hanford Village.
What a find! Hanford Village is a tiny community in the midst of Columbus which has an impressive history as a place with tidy, small homes settled by returning African-American veterans after WWII. I would love to have seen what it looked like in the 40's and 50's. The homes are still fetching.
There is a sadness to the Hanford story however; the building of an Interstate in the 70's literally and physically cut the village off from the surrounding city. The built environment around Hanford is a bit bizarre: it essentially is completely surrounded by the Interstate and busy access roads. The village itself can't be more than half a square mile. There are sidewalks within the village, but one more or less takes their life into their hands if they walk or bike out of the village: you're either heading on to Interstate, or heading on to access roads with no shoulders and lots of cars none too eager to share the road.
I need to learn more about the history of how the decision was made to have Interstate 70 bifurcate Hanford. I suspect it would resemble the history of how other 'marginal' communities are often left out of discussions on how the urban environment is designed.
Biking around the city, I am frequently struck by how the built environment conspires to restrict people's free movement. Furthermore, I am struck by how these restrictions are disproportionately placed on minorities, and people of lower socioeconomic class. The residents of this quaint village would be hard pressed to get much moderate to vigorous physical activity within their own space. What ease I have in nearby Bexley to walk, bike or run for miles on safe streets, with sidewalks and limited traffic. Shame on me if I can't stay in shape in a place like that.
As a country, as we combat the epidemic of obesity, we will need to address the limitations of the built environment in our cities. We will need to do this together and, yes, with an assist from the government.
With that thought in mind, I had a smile on my face as I rode through and around Hanford: under the shining sun and blue sky there were a multitude of blue Obama/Biden banners.
Here's to the re-election of President Barack Obama. Let's turn Ohio blue!
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Biking the Alum Creek Trail
I live in Bexley, Ohio and occasionally bike commute to Westerville, about 12 to 13 miles north. Since moving here just over two years ago, I have made this ride mostly using the Alum Creek Bike Trail. I'd estimate about 75% of my ride is on this trail, the other 25% being on two very busy roads, Cassady and Sunbury, both of which are narrow and without shoulders; the cars don't seem to care!!!
Michael Coleman, the mayor of Columbus, is a bike advocate, and has promoted the trail system here in Columbus. There has been construction on the Alum Creek trail, with attempts made to link the various 'pieces' of the trail into one, complete path. This is actually a small piece of a much larger project: the Ohio to Erie trail, an ambitious bike trail that will eventually link Cincinnati with Cleveland, going through Columbus. Gotta do that whole ride someday when it's complete.....with my son!
The Alum Creek trail, once finished, would be a personal boon, as it would allow me to make my commute off the road entirely. This would delight me and my wife, who tends to fret about my safety on the roads. I'm sure the cars travelling on narrow Cassady and Sunbury would approve as well.
I hadn't checked out for some time a certain stretch of the path I understood to be under construction, and so this afternoon I enjoyed the beautiful day by spending a couple of hours on my 'horse' doing some reconnaisance. I took off from home and wended my way by street and path, passing the impressive campus of Ohio Dominican University until I came to the southern terminus of the extension:
I was duly impressed! There are some beautiful stretches of trail, including a couple of well-designed, new walking bridges over Alum Creek, which looked lovely on this fall day.
I rather enjoyed this plaque, commemorating Edward Franklin Honton, an engineer and visionary who is one of the forces behind the birth of the Ohio to Erie bike trail. God bless folks like Mr. Honton, whose life and work make available such public spaces.
I do love bike commuting, as my friends know. One tweeted me this photo the other day (thanks Travis), which I think is 'spot on':
I try my best to use the commuting method that runs on my fat.....It's the best fuel going.
Michael Coleman, the mayor of Columbus, is a bike advocate, and has promoted the trail system here in Columbus. There has been construction on the Alum Creek trail, with attempts made to link the various 'pieces' of the trail into one, complete path. This is actually a small piece of a much larger project: the Ohio to Erie trail, an ambitious bike trail that will eventually link Cincinnati with Cleveland, going through Columbus. Gotta do that whole ride someday when it's complete.....with my son!
The Alum Creek trail, once finished, would be a personal boon, as it would allow me to make my commute off the road entirely. This would delight me and my wife, who tends to fret about my safety on the roads. I'm sure the cars travelling on narrow Cassady and Sunbury would approve as well.
I hadn't checked out for some time a certain stretch of the path I understood to be under construction, and so this afternoon I enjoyed the beautiful day by spending a couple of hours on my 'horse' doing some reconnaisance. I took off from home and wended my way by street and path, passing the impressive campus of Ohio Dominican University until I came to the southern terminus of the extension:
I was duly impressed! There are some beautiful stretches of trail, including a couple of well-designed, new walking bridges over Alum Creek, which looked lovely on this fall day.
I rather enjoyed this plaque, commemorating Edward Franklin Honton, an engineer and visionary who is one of the forces behind the birth of the Ohio to Erie bike trail. God bless folks like Mr. Honton, whose life and work make available such public spaces.
I do love bike commuting, as my friends know. One tweeted me this photo the other day (thanks Travis), which I think is 'spot on':
I try my best to use the commuting method that runs on my fat.....It's the best fuel going.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Leave No Child Inside, Ohio
 |
| Katie, Mo and Claire by Lake Ontario |
of speaking at the Leave No Child Inside 2012 Summit at beautiful Camp Mary Orton. I was tasked to survey the medical literature supporting unstructured, outdoor play in children. I alluded to many of the studies I have referenced before in this blog, including Exercise Deficit Disorder and Safe Routes to School.
The topics covered were intensely personal, not merely professional. As those of you who read this blog know, I am the father of two children whose many gifts frequently humble me. They are truly wonderful people, and I would attribute much of their beauty to the time they have spent outside, freely playing in and exploring nature. Literally, nearly every day of their lives they have spent usually substantial amounts of time outside.
Professionally, they make my job easy: whether I need photos of active children for my blog or for a talk like the one I gave yesterday, Momo and Claire readily provide me (with the assistance of their mother, my wife and partner in crime Kit, a fabulous photographer) an abundance of material.
They are outside right now, as I hope you are this beautiful day here in Central Ohio. I'll be there soon enough; I'm in class at the Ohio State school of public health but will be biking home soon for a dinner al fresco and campfire with my family.
Enjoy the outdoors, and, indeed, "LEAVE NO CHILD INSIDE!"
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Concussions and Computerized Neurocognitive Testing
A great article on the use of neurocognitive testing was published on espn.com this morning. If you haven't had the chance to read it, you should check it out here, most especially if have an interest in concussions, sports, or if you have kids.
Mild traumatic brain injury, aka concussions, have exploded on to the scene over just the last few years. I think this is a particularly interesting phenomenon to doctors such as myself, who have been practicing sports medicine for many years. I can still recall the era that I might send a high school athlete back into a football game after halftime if the symptoms from the concussion he sustained in the first half had abated. I can still recall trying to 'grade' a concussion based on elaborate scales, the Cantu Scale or the Colorado Scale. I can still recall as recently as two years ago trying to educate people about the importance of recognizing and managing this injury correctly, and feeling I was preaching to deaf ears.
And I can recall as recently as two years ago managing every concussion I saw without the use of computerized neurocognitive testing.
These tests, and ImPACT is only the biggest one on the market (they include Axon Sport, which my group uses, Headminder, and others) purport to demonstrate an athlete's function in many domains affected by concussion: attention, memory, learning, reaction time. They can be useful at times, but honestly, they are best used sparingly, in the same manner as imaging (which is to say, not every kid who gets concussed gets a CT scan, nor should they!).
A nexus of fear, uncertainty, money and marketing have created a huge windfall for the companies that run these tests. Parents are worried. There is still much to be understood about the injury: how many concussions are too many? what is the long term prognosis for pediatric sport related concussion? why do some people get concussed and others, hit more violently, don't? should we be just as concerned about so-called subconcussive blows (e.g. lineman getting smacked in the head)? what is the role for equipment to prevent this injury?
And the money!!!! I am conducting on-going research into concussions (above) and am writing a grant with colleagues to conduct other research. The research interest and money being focused on this problem is astounding, especially when one considers the myriad other injuries young athletes are at risk for. Furthermore, companies such as the one which owns ImPACT, in Pittsburgh, are marketing their tool aggressively; I do not know their financials, but I have to believe they are making very good money. If they go public, I would suspect they'll outperform Facebook!!!
This is an evolving story. I suspect the pendulum has swung very hard from one end (indifference) to the other (disproportionate fear). I'll be treating concussions, researching them, monitoring the public health dimensions of the issue, and blogging, blogging, blogging for some time.
Mild traumatic brain injury, aka concussions, have exploded on to the scene over just the last few years. I think this is a particularly interesting phenomenon to doctors such as myself, who have been practicing sports medicine for many years. I can still recall the era that I might send a high school athlete back into a football game after halftime if the symptoms from the concussion he sustained in the first half had abated. I can still recall trying to 'grade' a concussion based on elaborate scales, the Cantu Scale or the Colorado Scale. I can still recall as recently as two years ago trying to educate people about the importance of recognizing and managing this injury correctly, and feeling I was preaching to deaf ears.
And I can recall as recently as two years ago managing every concussion I saw without the use of computerized neurocognitive testing.
These tests, and ImPACT is only the biggest one on the market (they include Axon Sport, which my group uses, Headminder, and others) purport to demonstrate an athlete's function in many domains affected by concussion: attention, memory, learning, reaction time. They can be useful at times, but honestly, they are best used sparingly, in the same manner as imaging (which is to say, not every kid who gets concussed gets a CT scan, nor should they!).
A nexus of fear, uncertainty, money and marketing have created a huge windfall for the companies that run these tests. Parents are worried. There is still much to be understood about the injury: how many concussions are too many? what is the long term prognosis for pediatric sport related concussion? why do some people get concussed and others, hit more violently, don't? should we be just as concerned about so-called subconcussive blows (e.g. lineman getting smacked in the head)? what is the role for equipment to prevent this injury?
This is an evolving story. I suspect the pendulum has swung very hard from one end (indifference) to the other (disproportionate fear). I'll be treating concussions, researching them, monitoring the public health dimensions of the issue, and blogging, blogging, blogging for some time.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Exercise Deficit Disorder and Dr. Avery Faigenbaum
A couple of media links were sent my way that reminded me of my good friend Avery Faigenbaum and the talks/work he did with our organization on his visit to Columbus in May.
Here is Avery on YouTube talking about the issues surrounding pediatric resistance training, and here he and I are discussing the same issue on a special podcast known as Pediacast.
Or you can go here to check out both the video, the podcast, and grab further detailed information on how to safely have your child pursue resistance training. With supervision, this activity can be done as early as you'd consider getting your child into any organized sport.
For all of you out there inspired by the Olympics and see visions of glory in your kids, or for the many more of you who simply want to prep your children for a life of healthy, safe activity, you can go ahead and get them started in resistance training with appropriate supervision. The links above will help.
To your kids' health! (and yours, too).
Here is Avery on YouTube talking about the issues surrounding pediatric resistance training, and here he and I are discussing the same issue on a special podcast known as Pediacast.
Or you can go here to check out both the video, the podcast, and grab further detailed information on how to safely have your child pursue resistance training. With supervision, this activity can be done as early as you'd consider getting your child into any organized sport.
For all of you out there inspired by the Olympics and see visions of glory in your kids, or for the many more of you who simply want to prep your children for a life of healthy, safe activity, you can go ahead and get them started in resistance training with appropriate supervision. The links above will help.
To your kids' health! (and yours, too).
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