Are You Allergic To Spring Marathons?

As almost 40,000 runners get set to take part in next month's London Marathon, a new study has found that one in three will suffer from allergies after the event.  Post-marathon sniffles are a common complaint among runners, but they are often put down to infections taking advantage of a depleted immune system caused by the effort involved.

Now, however, researchers at Northumbria University have shown how far symptoms such as itchy eyes, a runny nose and congestion can be attributed to allergic reactions.

A team led by Dr Paula Robson-Ansley recruited 150 runners doing last year's London Marathon and asked them to complete a health questionnaire, take a blood test, and report on the symptoms they experienced up to three days after the event.

Eye and nose problems were reported by 61% of the runners sampled and subsequent blood tests to determine whether immunoglobulin E antibodies were present -- the telltale sign of an allergic reaction -- revealed that 35% of the runners were experiencing an allergy.

Body Checking In Youth Hockey Causes More Brain Injuries

Youth hockey players in the Atom division of Hockey Canada are more than 10 times likely to suffer a brain injury since bodychecking was first allowed among the 9 and 10-year-olds, says a study led by St. Michael's Hospital neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Cusimano.

The findings, published online in the journal Open Medicine, add to the growing evidence that bodychecking holds greater risk than benefit for youth and support widespread calls to ban the practice.

According to the researchers, led by Cusimano, director of the Injury Prevention Research Centre at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, the odds of visiting an emergency department due to a brain injury from bodychecking increased significantly among all minor hockey players after Hockey Canada relaxed bodychecking rules in the 1998/1999 season. At that time, the organization allowed, for the first time, body contact among 9 and 10 year-olds in the Atom division.

Top NCAA Men's Basketball Programs Are A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Why is it that the same teams seem to dominate March Madness, the annual NCAA  men's collegiate basketball tournament? For that matter, why does the same small group of institutions seem to top annual best-college rankings?  According to a theory developed by a Duke University engineer, these hierarchies are not only natural, but predictable.

Just as continually growing streams flow into a larger river, or smaller and smaller branches grow out from a single tree trunk, examples of these hierarchies abound in the natural world.  Whether it is a river or basketball rankings, there can only be a few at the "top" of the hierarchy, while there are many below. Once this pattern is established, like a river digging a wider and deeper bed over time, it is difficult to change it, said Adrian Bejan, engineering professor at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.

These hierarchies can be predicted by the constructal law, which Bejan developed 15 years ago and has been using to describe and predict human-made and natural phenomenon. The theory is based on the principle that flow systems evolve their designs to minimize imperfections, reducing friction or other forms of resistance, to flow more easily in time.

The best players will tend to choose winning programs, and these programs send higher percentages of athletes to the NBA, which in turn attracts the best players, said Bejan, who was a member of Romania's national select basketball team in the late 1960s and a starter on a club team that competed internationally.

Research Says Don't Bother With Stretching Before You Run

Stretching before a run neither prevents nor causes injury, according to a study presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).  More than 70 million people worldwide run recreationally or competitively, and recently there has been controversy regarding whether runners should stretch before running, or not at all.

This study included 2,729 runners who run 10 or more miles per week. Of these runners, 1,366 were randomized to a stretch group, and 1,363 were randomized to a non-stretch group before running. Runners in the stretch group stretched their quadriceps, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius/soleus muscle groups. The entire routine took 3 to 5 minutes and was performed immediately before running.

The study found that stretching before running neither prevents nor causes injury. In fact, the most significant risk factors for injury included the following:

• history of chronic injury or injury in the past four months;
• higher body mass index (BMI); and
• switching pre-run stretching routines (runners who normally stretch stopping and those who did stretch starting to stretch before running).

Is There Bias In Selection Of March Madness Teams?

By examining historical data, statisticians in the College of Science at Virginia Tech have quantified biases that play a role in granting Division I at-large basketball teams inclusion in the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

Assistant professors Leanna House and Scotland Leman found that in addition to the standard Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) used by the 10-member selection committee, biases such as the team's marquee and the strength of its schedule also increase the entry odds for college basketball's tournament.

"We wanted to quantify how much bias there is for bubble teams," Leman said. So-named "bubble teams" are those that do not have an automatic bid but are still considered potential teams to be invited to the tournament. Usually bout 30 teams fall into this category.

One bias for bubble teams, House and Leman found, was consideration of the marquee (or pedigree) of the team. For instance, a team that historically has an outstanding record and is usually included in the tournament has that fact in its favor.