Health
Female athletes are three times more likely to suffer from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures, one of the most common knee injuries, compared to male athletes.
The ACL is one of the four main ligaments within the knee that connect the femur (upper leg bone) to the tibia (lower leg bone).
Recent research highlights the unique anatomical differences in the female knee that may contribute to higher injury rates, and should be taken into consideration during reconstructive surgery and sports training, according to a review article in the January 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS).
“As female athletes have increased their participation in sports, many studies have shown the vulnerability of female athletes to ACL ruptures,” said Karen Sutton, MD, assistant professor, Yale University Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, and lead author of the review article. “This devastating injury has a long recovery period and a slow return to sport. Thus, research has been done focusing on why women are more vulnerable to ACL injuries and how to prevent them.”
Multiple, recent research studies also have found that preseason and ongoing neuromuscular training programs as part of an overall sports training program aimed specifically at improving knee stability when jumping, landing or pivoting can significantly decrease ACL injury risk among girls and women.
Unique anatomical features of female athletes such as a larger quadriceps angle (”Q angle”)—the angle at which the femur meets the tibia—may cause a greater pull of the knee muscles during physical activity, and contribute to more ACL injuries among females.
Anatomical differences in the female knee should be taken into consideration during ACL reconstruction, said Dr. Sutton.
Females are more likely than males to have a smaller, A-shaped intercondylar notch (the deep groove between the rounded ends of the femur bone), making ACL reconstruction more challenging, and possibly requiring altered surgical techniques.
“All female athletes, starting in adolescence, should learn appropriate training techniques,” said Dr. Sutton. “This includes the appropriate way to land from a jump, increasing the strength of muscles that could have a protective affect on the ACL – core, gluteal, quadriceps and hamstring muscles, as well as working on the body’s reaction to change of direction and change of speed.”
Read about how Aimee Hartwell, Christina Gordon, and Joanne Donoghue overcame their sports-related ACL rupture injuries on www.AnationInMotion.org .
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Could marriage, and associated companionship, be one key to a longer life? According to new research, not having a permanent partner, or spouse, during midlife is linked to a higher risk of premature death during those midlife years.
The work, by Dr. Ilene Siegler and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center in the US, is published online in Springer’s journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Survival through middle age to become elderly is expected; therefore understanding who does not survive to become elderly and why is important.
Siegler and colleagues looked at the effect of marriage history and timing of marriage on premature death during midlife. They were also interested in testing the role of pre-marital personality and quantifying the role of health behaviors.
The researchers analyzed data for 4,802 individuals who took part in the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS) – an ongoing study of individuals born in the 1940s.
The authors were particularly interested in stability and change in patterns of marital and non-marital status during midlife, controlling for personality at college entry (average age 18), socioeconomic status and health risk behaviors.
They found that having a partner during middle age is protective against premature death: those who never married were more than twice as likely to die early than those who had been in a stable marriage throughout their adult life.
Being single, or losing a partner without replacement, increased the risk of early death during middle age and reduced the likelihood that one would survive to be elderly.
Even when personality and risky behaviors were taken into account, marital status continued to have a major impact on survival.
The authors conclude: “Our results suggest that attention to non-marital patterns of partnership is likely to become more important for these Baby Boomers. These patterns appear to provide different levels of emotional and functional social support, which has been shown to be related to mortality. Social ties during midlife are important to help us understand premature mortality.”
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