Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Paging Dr. Gupta: Boomeritis
Aired May 12, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Weekend warriors, this one is for you. Baby boomers going that extra mile, trying to stay active, but those weekend athletes could be cruising for a bruising if they are not making certain concessions to their age.
We are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN Center to tell us about an emergency -- actually, an emerging medical condition. It is called boomeritis.
Is that the technical science term, Dr. Gupta?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we just came up with that term.
KAGAN: Yes.
GUPTA: But I think it's going to catch on, for sure.
Questions: You know, should you stretch before or after you exercise? How much aerobic training versus how much strength training? Should you even consider a joint replacement? We found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Baby boomers are out there, stroking, stepping, shooting. It's a generation that's in shape, but not without some consequences.
DR. NICK DINUBILE, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: As the baby boomer generation turns 40 and 50, we've seen an explosion of bone and joint, aches, pains, injuries.
GUPTA: This injury explosion now has a name: boomeritis.
DINUBILE: We're living longer, and we're the first generation who is really trying to stay active on an aging frame and push that envelope and maybe turn back the clock a little and find that fountain of youth.
GUPTA: But many baby boomers meet their workout nemesis at the fountain of youth: overuse injuries.
DINUBILE: They're related to repetitive movements, somebody who is running, somebody who is biking, hitting numerous tennis balls. Repetitive movement that gradually over time creates micro-damage or micro-trauma to the tissues. GUPTA: So, what's the science behind boomeritis? Well, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Consumer Product Safety Commission did a study. It found that in 1998, hospital emergency rooms treated over 300,000 sports-related injuries for baby boomers alone. Three years later, that figure dipped a bit, but was still significant.
DINUBILE: That's just tip of the iceberg. When you look at most of these ailments, these are not things that usually get you to emergency rooms. So, if the emergency room visits are way up, you know that the office visits are way, way up.
GUPTA: Some common boomer afflictions, like foot and ankle injuries, muscle tendon tears and rotator cuff problems, can be avoided.
So, how do you dodge boomeritis? Stretch before you exercise. Train smart, not hard, by mixing up exercise routines. Listen to your body. And if you have an injury, design a safe exercise routine with your orthopedist.
DINUBILE: We're not telling people to stop exercising. Being sedentary is just not an alternative. We know that that sedentary behavior is as dangerous as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. So, the boomers are wise to stay active and to stay fit, but they just have to do it differently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: All right, so sedentary is not the answer, but really that balance there in between aerobic and strength training is a very important one to try to prevent those injuries long term -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And with all due respect to the surgeon on the house, I guess the No. 1 priority is to avoid surgery at any cost?
GUPTA: That's right. And they're real specific about it. But there is some good advice at boomeritis.org. That's a Web site. But aerobic training is going to improve the oxygenization to your muscles, but really that strength training, if you can improve the muscles, the muscles that actually go to the joints you can avoid joint replacements later on. That's sort of the name of the game.
So, really a combination of the two, don't do one more than the other necessarily, combine those two and you'll probably stave off any operations, my services, later on down the road.
KAGAN: That is what we aim for.
GUPTA: That's important.
KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Atlanta, thank you.
GUPTA: Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired May 12, 2003 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Weekend warriors, this one is for you. Baby boomers going that extra mile, trying to stay active, but those weekend athletes could be cruising for a bruising if they are not making certain concessions to their age.
We are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CNN Center to tell us about an emergency -- actually, an emerging medical condition. It is called boomeritis.
Is that the technical science term, Dr. Gupta?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think we just came up with that term.
KAGAN: Yes.
GUPTA: But I think it's going to catch on, for sure.
Questions: You know, should you stretch before or after you exercise? How much aerobic training versus how much strength training? Should you even consider a joint replacement? We found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Baby boomers are out there, stroking, stepping, shooting. It's a generation that's in shape, but not without some consequences.
DR. NICK DINUBILE, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: As the baby boomer generation turns 40 and 50, we've seen an explosion of bone and joint, aches, pains, injuries.
GUPTA: This injury explosion now has a name: boomeritis.
DINUBILE: We're living longer, and we're the first generation who is really trying to stay active on an aging frame and push that envelope and maybe turn back the clock a little and find that fountain of youth.
GUPTA: But many baby boomers meet their workout nemesis at the fountain of youth: overuse injuries.
DINUBILE: They're related to repetitive movements, somebody who is running, somebody who is biking, hitting numerous tennis balls. Repetitive movement that gradually over time creates micro-damage or micro-trauma to the tissues. GUPTA: So, what's the science behind boomeritis? Well, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Consumer Product Safety Commission did a study. It found that in 1998, hospital emergency rooms treated over 300,000 sports-related injuries for baby boomers alone. Three years later, that figure dipped a bit, but was still significant.
DINUBILE: That's just tip of the iceberg. When you look at most of these ailments, these are not things that usually get you to emergency rooms. So, if the emergency room visits are way up, you know that the office visits are way, way up.
GUPTA: Some common boomer afflictions, like foot and ankle injuries, muscle tendon tears and rotator cuff problems, can be avoided.
So, how do you dodge boomeritis? Stretch before you exercise. Train smart, not hard, by mixing up exercise routines. Listen to your body. And if you have an injury, design a safe exercise routine with your orthopedist.
DINUBILE: We're not telling people to stop exercising. Being sedentary is just not an alternative. We know that that sedentary behavior is as dangerous as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. So, the boomers are wise to stay active and to stay fit, but they just have to do it differently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: All right, so sedentary is not the answer, but really that balance there in between aerobic and strength training is a very important one to try to prevent those injuries long term -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And with all due respect to the surgeon on the house, I guess the No. 1 priority is to avoid surgery at any cost?
GUPTA: That's right. And they're real specific about it. But there is some good advice at boomeritis.org. That's a Web site. But aerobic training is going to improve the oxygenization to your muscles, but really that strength training, if you can improve the muscles, the muscles that actually go to the joints you can avoid joint replacements later on. That's sort of the name of the game.
So, really a combination of the two, don't do one more than the other necessarily, combine those two and you'll probably stave off any operations, my services, later on down the road.
KAGAN: That is what we aim for.
GUPTA: That's important.
KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Atlanta, thank you.
GUPTA: Take care.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
