NFL and Domestic Violence: A Startling Study

There is a disturbing new report that says some sports fans can take winning and losing too far. Fans of the Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tennessee Titans were studied. According to scientists at the University of California at Berkeley there was a 10% increase in the rate of domestic abuse by men against their wives and girlfriends when their own football team lost a game they were expected to win. However when teams were expected to lose the violence was not as great. The researchers discovered this by cross checking the time of police calls with game times. Quite alarmingly increasing domestic violence occurred in the final hour of the game till two hours thereafter. The NFL cannot be blamed for this but the study shows how those who are prone to violence are more likely to act out after a negative experience in their life

The Case For Iodine

You might be wondering why people in Japan are taking iodine after the tsunami. Damage to the nuclear power plant has led to the release of radioactive iodine. Radioactive iodine can lead to thyroid cancer. Taking iodine pills saturates the thyroid gland and  can prevent the radioactive iodine from entering the body. Certainly no one can argue that taking iodine tablets in such a potentially dangerous situation is not a good idea. But people many miles away in places like Toronto and San Diego are buying iodine tablets as well with the thought that radiation might travel to them. As radiation travels the concentration decreases and experts say there is little chance of problems so far away. But does taking iodine cause any risks. If iodine is taken in extremely high amounts --- a dosage of many grams-- it can cause acute iodine poisoning with burning in the mouth throat and stomach diarrhea weak pulse and ultimately coma. But these are extremely high amounts. People who abuse iodine can impair the production of thyroid hormone but once again were talking about abuse. So in reasonable doses iodine does not present a significant risk but without a real chance for exposure to radioactive iodine people should save their money and not rush to the store to buy it.

Time For Routine EKGs in High School Athletes??

The deaths of teenage basketball Star West Leonard closely followed by 17-year-old rugby player Matthew Hammerdorfer have raised a very reasonable question, "just how often do tragedies like this strike". According to the journal Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association, the rate of sudden cardiac deaths in young athletes was similar to that of deaths from lightning. But even though they are rare they are hard-hitting and have tremendous impact. The two primary causes of sudden death from heart conditions in which there were no previous symptoms are hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and a genetic condition called long  QT syndrome. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a thickening of the heart muscle and  can cause cardiac arrest during exertion.  The QT syndrome is a problem with electrical regulation of the heart. It is very difficult to detect these underlying heart conditions but a physical examination. EKGs can help but in the United States they are not recommended because testing is costly and can lead to false positive results which would mean unnecessary additional testing. There are many cardiologists who believe the EKGs should be standard. The European Society of cardiology recommends routine EKGs. One of the best ways to screen is through pointed questions for instance does the child have heart palpitations, a racing heart or passes out. Sadly the first warning in many of these cases is the sudden cardiac event while participating in a sports related activity.