User:CSCDerekLi/sandbox

Health issues of athletics concerns the health and well-being of athletes who participate in an organized sport. If athletes are physically and mentally underdeveloped, they are particularly susceptible to mental or physical issues. Athletes trying to improve their performances in sports can actually harm themselves by adopting eating habits that harm them physically or psychologically, overtraining, and using steroids or supplements.

Female Athlete Triad
The Female Athlete Triad is a condition among women that consists of three interrelated irregularities: disordered eating habits, irregular menstruation, and premature bone loss or osteoporosis. The term Female Athlete Triad was coined in the early 1990s when researchers from the National Institutes of Health noticed unusual health patterns among female athletes. They observed an increase in disordered eating within young female athletes and also found that exercising intensely while getting inadequate nutrition can lead to amenorrhoea, or irregular menstrual cycles, which in turn can lead to osteoporosis.

Overtraining
A female athlete who feels pressured to maintain a certain physique or body weight may exercise excessively and develop eating disorders to restrict calorie intake. As a result of over exercising, an athlete's body's need for rest increases and overall energy declines, causing total body fat and estrogen levels to drop—a condition known as amernorrhea. Both male and female athletes may feel the pressure to overtrain excessively in order to achieve a certain body image. The human body has a tremendous capacity to adapt to physical stress. Exercise and activity can be beneficial for our bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, making them stronger and more functional. This is also known as "remodeling" which involves both the breakdown and buildup of tissue. However, if the breakdown occurs more rapidly than buildup, an overuse injury occurs. Nearly half of all injuries in pediatric sports medicine are due to overuse. An overuse injury is a micro traumatic damage to a bone, muscle, or tendon that is subjected to repetitive stress without time to heal naturally as a result of long and/or high intensity workouts. Many youth athletes participate in sports year-round or on multiple teams at once. Another factor could include parental pressure to compete and succeed. Other risk factors include sleep deprivation, general physical and cognitive immaturity, dietary imbalance, and inadequate physical fitness. Among young athletes, common overuse injuries are stress fractures, which include injury of the: 'Overtraining Syndrome' is a term that has been used to describe athletes who, while training for competition, train beyond the body's ability to recover naturally. Common warning signs include tiredness, soreness, drop in performance, headaches, and loss of enthusiasm. Without adequate rest and recovery, training regimens can backfire, eventually harming an athlete's performance. Overtraining can also be associated with eating disorders: athletes may turn to excessive exercise in order to lose weight. In cases where athletes are overtraining, the most effective treatment is rest and proper nutrition.
 * femoral neck/pubis
 * femoral shaft
 * tibia
 * fibula
 * metatarsals
 * calcaneus
 * cuboid

Supplements/Steroids
Anabolic steroids are artificially produced hormones called androgens, which are essentially male-type sex hormones in the body. The most powerful androgen is testosterone. Another group of steroids include steroidal supplements, a weaker form of androgen. Steroids and supplements are controversial in their use for sports because of the health risks associated with them. Some serious and long-term effects on the body include hair loss, dizziness, mood swings, delusion, paranoia, high blood pressure, increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and even cancer. More recent studies also suggest that steroid users had an increased risk of depression and alcohol use later in life. Doctors call this the 'snowball effect' of steroid-related health problems. Injury patterns suggest that joint ligaments aren't able to adapt to steroid-induced muscles, leading to injury.

Illness
Heat illness and dehydration are typically brought on by high temperatures and high humidity. These conditions carry increased risk for young athletes, particularly at the beginning of a season when they are less fit. Other factors that increase vulnerability include: heat-retaining clothing, recent illness, previous experience with heat illness, chronic conditions, or sleep deprivation. Additional precaution is to be taken if the child is taking supplements or using cold medication.

Heat illnesses are among the primary causes of sports-related death or disability. They require immediate medical attention. Symptoms to watch for are as follows:
 * dry or sticky mouth
 * headache
 * dizziness
 * cramps
 * unusual fatigue
 * confusion
 * loss of consciousness

Injury
Sports injury is often the result of overuse or trauma to a part of the body. An issue unique to youth athletics is that the participants’ bones are still growing, making them the most at risk for injury. Around 8,000 children are rushed to the emergency room daily because of sports injuries. High school athletes suffer approximately 715,000 injuries annually. For instance, in American football, five times more catastrophic injuries happen in high school rather than college-level competition. Injuries include heat illness and dehydration, concussions, and trauma-related deaths. Heat illnesses are a rising concern in youth athletics. These illnesses include heat syncope, muscle cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and exertional hyponatremia. Each year, high school athletes sustain 300,000 head injuries, of which 90% are concussions. By the start of high school, 53% of athletes will have already suffered a concussion but fewer than 50% of them say anything because they're concerned they will be removed from play. Ice hockey, soccer, wrestling and basketball have a high risk of concussion, with football carrying the most risk. A history of concussions among football players can contribute to sports-related sudden death.

Prevention
To prevent an injury, a proper warm-up is extremely important because it lets athletes increase their heart rates. A proper warm up allows for an increased muscle temperature. Warm muscles are less susceptible to injuries because they can contract more forcefully and relax more quickly. As a result, both speed and strength can be enhanced. Also, the probability of over-stretching a muscle and causing injury is much lower. Other forms of prevention include strengthening muscles, increasing flexibility, taking breaks, weight training, and playing safe. Warm-ups also increase body and blood temperature, which allows more oxygen to reach the muscles, improves muscle elasticity, and reduces the risk of strains and pulls. Mental preparation is also important before practice or games. Clearing the mind and visualizing skills and strategy can relax the athlete's muscles and build concentration.

Sports-related death
Sometimes sports injuries can be so severe that they lead to death. In 2010 alone, 48 youths died from sports injuries. The leading causes of death in youth sports are sudden cardiac arrest, concussion, heat illness and external sickling. Cardiac-related deaths are usually due to an undiagnosed cardiovascular disorder. Trauma to the head, neck and spine can also be lethal. Among young American athletes, more than half of trauma-related deaths take place among football players, with track and field, baseball, boxing, and soccer also having relatively high fatality rates.