Happy Summer! I hope everyone had a safe and fun Fourth of July.
Is everyone enjoying the World Cup? Quite a few of the favorites are gone, who are you cheering for? The winner of Sweden v England is who I will root for to bring home the trophy.
This July is very interesting and significant to me as I have now officially retired from the Army after 27 years; it was my first Fourth of July as a civilian.
The July 2018 issue of Current Sports Medicine Reports covers nutrition and ergogenic aids topics in addition to our regular columns and commentaries. This issue contains two very interesting articles; a Special Communication and an Invited Commentary.
In the heat of the summer and with preseason conditioning and training going on, exertional heat illness should be something we all think about. After we treat an acute heat stroke, there is the dilemma of when can that athlete return to play. Francis G. O'Connor, MD, MPH, FACSM; Yuval Heled, PhD; and Patricia A. Deuster, PhD, MPH. tackle this question with an outstanding and timely article, "Exertional Heat Stroke, the Return to Play Decision, and the Role of Heat Tolerance Testing: A Clinician's Dilemma."
We also have a very interesting Invited Communication from some of our colleagues in Italy. This piece talks about the intersection of science and policy and how physicians can help patients get involved with competitive sports.
The 2018 Nutrition and Ergogenic Aids section, recruited by Section Editor Thomas H. Trojian, MD, FACSM, features two outstanding section articles. The first looks at the physical effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids in healthy exercising adults, and the second covers how to apply the science of nutrient timing and distribution on-and-off the soccer pitch, might be a little too late for some nations.
The Clinician Profile features Morteza Khodaee, MD, MPH, FACSM. The Pearls and Pitfalls column looks at caffeine powder, placebos for athletes, and muscle breakdowns. Web Alerts reviews several interesting Web sites that may help your practice.
Enjoy this issue by the pool and please wear sun screen.
Sincerely,
Shawn
Shawn F. Kane, MD, FACSM
Editor-in-Chief
