STOP Playing Safe

New program emphasizes injury awareness and prevention in youth sports

by Tracy Austin, M.D.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, participation in organized sports is on the rise. Comprehensive efforts like First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign and organizations like the Kids Sports Network in San Antonio, which acts as a clearinghouse for sports information, further promote physical activity.  Nearly 30 million children and adolescents participate in youth sports in the United States—statistics that should be cause for celebration.

But it is possible to have too much of a good thing where youth sports are concerned? It appears that there is a flip side. When getting youth involved in sports, parents and even coaches are rarely educated about or even aware of a growing epidemic of preventable sports injuries adversely affecting young athletes. The National Youth Sports Safety Foundation estimates that three to five million young athletes go to emergency rooms for sports injuries each year, and their family doctors may see another eight million.

The Future of Medicine

The physical exam is the backbone of medical practice and goes back thousands of years to the Chinese. It has evolved over time—and modern technology is bringing yet more changes to the age-old assessment.

In basic terms, the physical examination is the physician’s way of evaluating a patient using minimal invasiveness and the physician’s five senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing, and even taste.

Yes, even taste. Did you know that years ago, physicians would actually taste urine to check for diabetes? It’s true! Fortunately, things like tasting urine are no longer done. But the physical exam remains integral to the practice of medicine. This is because the traditional physical examination is inexpensive, non-invasive, and potentially revealing. And besides all these things, the traditional physical exam serves the function of helping to establish the patient-doctor relationship.

Cancer Proof Your Life

by Tracy Austin, M.D.

Cancer—that dreaded C word. Even with the tremendous advances that have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, cancer still frightens everyone. It’s the second leading cause of death among Americans, followed by heart disease—so there’s good reason for concern.

Keeping with the old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” here’s a list of seven steps to help you “cancer proof” your life. These simple preventative measures are the key to drastically reducing your risk of developing some of the most common types of cancers, like prostate, breast, lung, and skin cancer.

Pillow Talk

by Tracy Austin, M.D.

Turn on the television or radio today and there’s no shortage of sexual commentary or new sex scandals. Channels like HBO and FX feature sexual content so graphic that they are required to run warnings before episodes, and “Angels” rolling around in bed in their underwear figure prominently on Victoria’s Secret commercials. But in a country so inundated with sexual imagery, there’s a surprising lack of knowledge about how to keep ourselves sexually healthy.