Article: Why some athletes are injury-prone| New Scientist

Some sportspeople are more prone to injury than others, despite being fully fit. A new mathematical model of the body shows that these athletes rely on a fixed combination of movements that they cannot easily modify. The discovery might help in spotting injury-prone athletes early on...

Using projective geometry, Penne and Laurie modelled the actions of cricket bowlers, who are notorious for their frequent injuries. After making some assumptions about a bowler's action - for instance, they ignored any rotations of the wrist and elbow - the researchers modelled all the ways in which joint movements could be combined to deliver a cricket ball.

They found that most combinations allowed the bowler to make small adjustments to the action, but that a few combinations gave no room for manoeuvre. The researchers call this phenomenon 'reduced redundancy' and say that it may play a special role in sports injuries."

Zaheer Khan's injury is explained!

Article: Brain not body makes athletes feel tired| New Scientist

"Fatigue is in the mind, not the muscles, suggests a new study. But it can still have a serious impact on athletic performance. The finding could lead to treatments for conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, or the development of illicit performance-enhancing drugs.

Traditionally, fatigue was viewed as the result of over-worked muscles ceasing to function properly. But evidence is mounting that our brains make us feel weary after exercise (New Scientist print edition, 20 March). The idea is that the brain steps in to prevent muscle damage.

Now Paula Robson-Ansley and her colleagues at the University of Cape Town in South Africa have demonstrated that a ubiquitous body signalling molecule called interleukin-6 plays a key role in telling the brain when to slow us down. Blood levels of IL-6 are 60 to 100 times higher than normal following prolonged exercise, and injecting healthy people with IL-6 makes them feel tired."

This has got to be one of the most useful examples of how research can affect daily lives. Now, I know why I can't put that extra bit even when I am not feeling all that sore while jogging.

Oral Glucocorticoids Increase Risk of Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular...

"The use of oral glucocorticoids is associated with a 25% increase in the risk of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease outcomes, according to a report in the August issue of Heart. High levels of cortisol are associated with risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular outcomes, the authors explain, but it has not yet been established whether exogenous glucocorticoid use is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular morbidity."

Elevated Fasting Glucose Predicts Mortality in Patients With CAD

"Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) who have elevated fasting glucose levels are at increased risk of death, according to the results of a prospective trial published in the August issue of the American Heart Journal. The investigators were surprised by the frequency of undiagnosed diabetes as well as the hazard associated with 'prediabetes,' and the editorialist suggests that these patients be treated as aggressively as patients with diabetes."