Editor

William W. Dexter, MD Sports Medicine Program, Maine Medical Center, 272 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Contributor

Lucien Parrillo, MD, MPH Maine Medical Center Sports Medicine Program, 272 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Sports Coach http://www.brianmac.co.uk/index.htm Sports Coach provides information on many topics related to developing athletic ability and coaching expertise to help fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and coaches achieve their athletic goals and to assist students studying sport-related qualifications. There are links to articles covering a variety of sports science and training topics, including “Core Stability,” “Cryotherapy,” “Coaching Instruction,” “Oxygen Debt,” and “Signs of Over-training.” In addition, there are many different instructional booklets covering a range of topics from “Training for Cyclists” to “The Ultimate Bench Press Manual.” The website was developed by Brian Mackenzie (Brianmac), a track and field performance coach with more than 35 years of experience working with male and female athletes of all ages. This website is very user friendly, with simple point-and-click links to topics of interest. Although the site is not peer reviewed, the information is updated quarterly throughout the year. Brianmac has written and edited many book chapters and journal articles related to sports performance and coaching. Currently, he is the sprint, middle distance, and combined event athletics coach at the UK’s Chelmsford Athletic Club. Articles are free; specialized booklets are a nominal cost.

CRY: Cardiac Risk in the Young http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/medical_conditons.htm Although accurate statistics are not available, experts believe that eight apparently fit and healthy young people die each week as a result of sudden cardiac death (undetected cardiac abnormalities), many of them during or immediately after physical activity. Any athlete who has an undetected cardiac abnormality is inevitably at risk. CRY is a website dedicated to providing medical information on the most common causes of unexpected sudden cardiac death in the young (under 35 years of age). Although the topic of cardiology is complex, navigating through the website is not. CRY is updated periodically and peer reviewed by leading authorities in the field; it’s website offers information on the diagnosis, symptoms, genetic implications, and treatment of topics such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, long QT syndrome, and coronary artery disease. There is no cost for this website.

The Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries http://www.sportseyeinjuries.com/ More than 600,000 sports- and recreation-related eye injuries occur each year; 42,000 of these are of a severity that requires emergency room attention. More than 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented with the use of appropriate protective eyewear. The Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries was created to substantially reduce the number of avoidable eye injuries that occur in today’s sports and recreational environment. The website is annually updated and peer reviewed by experts in the field of sports ophthalmology. This easyto-use website contains links to policy statements and informational brochures on a number of preventive topics, including use of protective eyewear, types and treatments of sports-related eye injuries, prevention of trauma-related blindness, and a link to Healthy Vision 2010, a national

348 Web Alert

disease prevention initiative that addresses eye health topics such as vision screening for preschool children, regular eye examinations for children and adults, eye injury prevention, and vision rehabilitation. There is no cost for this website.

keepkidshealthy.com: a Pediatrician’s guide to your children’s health and safety http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/WELCOME/treatmentguides/exercise.html An increasing number of children and adolescents in the United States are obese. If no interventions are made, more than 80% will stay overweight and/or obese as adults, thus increasing their likelihood of developing medical problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea. The website keepkidshealthy.com contains a variety of useful tips and tools aimed at improving children’s health. Links to information regarding nutrition, exercise and fitness, immunizations, safety and injury prevention, and first aid are just a click away. Although this website is quite user friendly, it does not state whether the information on the site has been peer reviewed, nor how frequently the information is updated. As an added bonus, the website offers “quizzes for parents” to address common misconceptions about children’s health and provide an educational resource to help kids stay healthy well into their adult lives. There is no cost for this website.

Virtual Sports Injury Clinic http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/ This website is a valuable educational resource providing information on common sports injuries, anatomy of the injury area, condition etiologies, treatment options, and rehabilitation. Although it requires some effort to navigate, the website becomes simpler to explore with continued usage. To begin, one scrolls over to the diagram of the human body and clicks “where it hurts.” After a few more screening questions, a potential diagnosis is suggested and a great deal of information regarding the injury is provided. In addition, there are links to video clips that teach simple sports massage techniques and provide information about the benefits and indications for sports massage. There are also video clips that describe simple strapping and taping techniques and the role that strapping and taping play in sports injury prevention. Finally, there is a sports injury forum in which users can post messages and discuss their sports injuries with others in a bulletin board format. The creators of the website do not disclose if the information is peer reviewed, nor do they state how often it is updated. In all, this is a useful website for sports medicine professionals and lay people to learn about common injuries and what can be done about them. There is no cost for this website.

National Strength and Conditioning Association http://www.nsca-lift.org/ The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), founded in 1978, is an international nonprofit educational association. Evolving from a membership of 76, the association now serves nearly 30,000 members in 52 countries. The NSCA develops and presents the most advanced information regarding strength training and conditioning practices, injury prevention, and research findings. As a nationally recognized organization, the information presented on the website is critically reviewed and continuously updated. In addition to free training videos and free podcasts, there are links to a variety of information such as position statements, career resources, conferences and events, and a training tip of the month. This easy-to-use website is an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in the field of performance, strength training, and athletic conditioning. Membership is required for access to the NSCA journals and video conferences.