Study: Birth Control for Brain Injury

Even though I've long been a helmet advocate for many outdoor sports (biking, climbing, skiing, etc.), I've also been vocal about how inadequate most helmet really are. For starters, most of the ones commonly worn do not prevent concussion, contrary to popular belief. Of course helmets can only withstand a certain amount of force too, often far less than many people realize. So the bottom line is, helmets or not, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are still going to happen.

This new study shows that injections of progestrone, an ingredient in birth control pills, can significantly reduce the effects of TBI. The randomized, double-blind trial found that 6 months after patients experience severe trauma, those who received the progesterone shots for five days after the accident were in much better shape.

Having witnessed the results of a nasty TBI in more than one friend, I wish this research had been done years ago. But should any of you in the future have friends or family with a TBI, it would be well worth checking with their doctors about this protocol.

New Frostbite Procedure

File this one under: Good to know, hope I never need it.

I've never had frostbite though I've certainly had plenty of cases of "screaming meanies" (ask any ice climber if you don't know what that is). But as a mountaineer, frostbite is something that I need to be prepared for--quite a few of my friends have lost bits of fingers and toes.

This week, a paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology about a breakthrough treatment for frostbite that has the potential to prevent amputations. The technique involves using an IV to infuse the affected limb with a drug (Tenectaplase) through arteries upstream of the injured area so this likely isn't something that will be done in the field. The results appear to be a dramatic improvement over the standard protocols, which often resulted in small blood clots that wreak havoc on thawing tissue.

Since this research is so new, if you end up in the hospital with frostbite, it's likely that you may have to inform your doctor about the procedure. The press release gives a nice summary of the research. Here is the PowerPoint presentation if you want full details and the typical gory photos.

Galley Time

Just shipped the galleys for my training book so getting that ready was I haven't posted lately. For those of you who haven't published books, there are several stages of editing after a manuscript is turned in. 

First an editor goes through and fixes all the grammar mistakes you made (out of 100,000 words, you can bet there are a few) and they ask questions and make suggestions. All of this comes back to you as a hard copy printout and you get a week or two approve changes and add new content.

Then next step is called the galley. This is the first rough layout of the book, sans the photos. It is the authors last chance to make substantial changes. So when you ship the galleys back, your book is pretty much a done deal.

I'll get to look at it one more time in the form of proofs, which is my last chance to correct mistakes. But the catch is that no changes can affect layout. So if you add 5 words, you have to take out 5 from somewhere on the same page (usually). It's pretty much impossible to add a sentence or paragraph. 

Then it's off to the printer. And I should see a new book around July.

This really is a new book, even though it's a second edition. It went from six chapters to nine. I don't know the final page count but I'm guessing it will go from 240 pages to near 300. I've added a lot of content, took out some exercises and included new ones, and recommended roughly 40 products for training or recovery. Hopefully it will help some people have more fun!

So now that the galley has shipped, I begin collecting information for the third edition that may appear in five years. That's part of the reason I started this blog.

Study: Climbing hurts

Half of the climbers in gyms and at crags have been injured bad enough in the past year that they had to take at least one day off. One third have chronic overuse injuries such as elbow and shoulder tendonitis. Over a quarter suffer an acute injury, such as a torn A2 pulley in a middle or ring finger, from pulling harder than their body could handle. Yet only 10% of the waylaying injuries came from a fall.

That's the result of a survey of over two hundred climbers in Britain that was published last December in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Titled "The epidemiology of rock climbing injuries," the authors also found that climbers are a stubborn lot when it comes to seeking medical attention. Only 11% went to a doctor and 18% to a physical therapist for treatment while 14% asked the advice of other climbers.

While half of all climbers bashing themselves up isn't a good thing, at least we aren't as bad as dancers at abusing our bodies. Another survey in Britain found that 80% of professional dancers had suffered an injury in the previous 12 months.

The study of dancers also found that 25% have had eating problems (anorexia and/or bulemia) and 10% were underweight to the point that it threatened their health. This question wasn't tackled in the climber survey but it's quite likely that eating disorders are nearly as common in the sport climbing and bouldering communities.

This study reinforces the danger of overdoing it in any sport. Overuse injuries are the ones most likely to take you out of action. But they are also the most easily prevented by getting sufficient rest, training underdeveloped muscles, and eating properly.