As we continue to expand the umbrella of knowledge and education that we put into practice in order to best serve and protect the active populations we treat, we continue to evolve our care. With the evolution of care, often times comes an evolution of testing and training methods.
Point in case is the stance that the NCAA has taken to identify athletes that may be at an increased risk of potentially fatal side effects due to sickling of the red cells in the body. In these instances, the body is unable to transport oxygen effectively and the vital organs begin to shut down. Sickle cell disease has been responsible for the deaths of several athletes in recent years and the NCAA has begun to implement changes in the way that testing and handeling of these athletes occurs. Hopefully, with the increase in the educational materials being supplied, many questions have already been answered, however, the links below should serve as a good starting point to help as well.
We hope that the start of classes comes and goes without a hitch and we hope that if you have any questions or comments about the site, you drop us a line.
Listed below are a few of the numerous resources dealing with sickle cell disease, sickle cell trait, the difference between the two, and how they affect athletes.
ACSM Current Comment on Sickle Cell Trait and athletes:
NATA Consensus statement on sickle cell trait and athletes:
NCAA Fact Sheet for student-athletes:
http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/health_safety/SickleCellTraitforSA.pdf
NCAA Fact sheet for coaches:
http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/health_safety/SickleCellTraitforCoaches.pdf
Wright State University Sports Medicine Blog 