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Medical Report

Cheerleading is Not All Splits and Smiles

by KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough

Football season is underway and along with the hard fought high school and college battles there will be a fair share of injuries.

Injuries, for better or worse, are part of the game. Fortunately there is better equipment than ever and most teams have doctors and trainers on hand to help. But you might be surprised that there is another group that are at high risk for injuries during football season - the cheerleaders.

You may not be aware if you haven’t attended games in recent years but cheerleading routines are bordering on olympic gymnastic maneuvers and with these athletic moves comes the risk of injury. In fact, over the past 25 years, cheerleading accounted for two-thirds of all catastrophic sports injuries experienced by high school and college females in the United States. According to a North Carolina study, cheerleading accounted for 65.1 percent of female high school athlete injuries and for 66.7 percent of female college athlete injuries.

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KYW Podcasts

Medical Reports - Week of 11/24/08
KYW medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough has this weeks dose of health information. (3:27)

Keeping Your Heart Healthy
KYW's Hadas Kuznits speaks with Dr. Sara Sirna, the cardiologist involved with Temple University's new Institute of Preventative Cardiology about heart health and reducing your risk factors. (7:49)

Medical Reports - Week of 11/17/08
KYW medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough discusses preventing the spread of infections, teen stress, the effectiveness of obese doctors, teens huffing and a study suggesting weight around the middle being deadly. (3:40)

Medical Reports - Week of 11/10/08
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