Athletes Avoiding Heat Stroke

Aug. 22, 2002 -- -- As summer turns to fall and athletes young and old take to the playing fields for pre-season workouts, their bodies may be unprepared for rigorous exertion under lingering high temperatures, leaving them vulnerable to the dangers of heat stroke.

Examples are widespread of athletes harmed by the heat.

For instance, four football players at Northeastern University in Boston have already been treated this summer for dehydration during their first week of practice.

"They practice on astroturf, [so] it's about 10 degrees hotter than the temperature around us," explains the Northeastern's team physician assistant Lampros Minos. "When it's so humid it's tough for the body to evaporate some of that sweat and that's how we lose a lot of our heat."

"The heat can cause other types of injuries as well," warns Dr. Brian McKeon, orthopaedic surgeon at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston. "As body temperature rises, for instance, players can become confused and may move or turn the wrong way suddenly, resulting in strains, sprains, or breaks."

That's why sports medicine experts agree that it's smart for fall athletes to shape up on their own beforehand.

"I'd hate to see an athlete that's inactive for a couple of months and be asked to perform in the fall, especially in front of coaches and friends," says Avery Faigenbaum, associate professor of exercise physiology at University of Massachusetts in Boston. "It's a setup of failure emotionally and physically, and puts them at risk for injury."

Dr. Lyle Micheli, director of sports medicine at Children's Hospital in Boston, agrees. He advises athletes to exercise caution while participating in their pre-season workout routine.

"Six to eight weeks before the season starts, kids should start some kind of activity, two to three days per week," Micheli says. "Conditioning-wise, we have a 10 percent rule, whereby you increase the volume of your workout by 10 percent each week."