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This week’s edition of Our Health takes a look at one family’s experience with autism, how your local restaurant did with their latest inspection and running - both a local club and how to run safely. Autism Awareness Month 1B · Local Health Inspections 2B • Robert Griffin III at LHN 3B
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Saturday, April 9, 2016 • Page 1B
Runners Get Ready Memorial Hermann Greater Heights offers tips to avoid injury Memorial Hermann Greater Heights For The Leader It’s spring, and more Houstonians are going outside to run. Because running can put a lot of stress on the knees, Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital encourages runners to stretch and strengthen their muscles to avoid injury. The most common knee injury among runners is patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) or runner’s knee. This condition causes pain in the front of the knee and around the kneecap. PFPS generally occurs because of overuse and muscle imbalance, but sometimes it results from a misalignment of the kneecap. “Running puts repetitive trauma on the knees as they feel the load of three to four times one’s body weight,” said Raj Shani, M.D., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon affiliated with Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital and the Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute. “The good news with PFPS is that there is no cartilage damage, and it is treatable.” Focus on Stretching and Strengthening Muscles Treatment during the early stages of PFPS includes rest, ice and anti-
inflammatory medication. Dr. Shani suggests mixing up running with other activities like swimming or biking to rest the knees. “There also needs to be a focus on strengthening the quadriceps, stretching hamstrings and loosening the iliotibial (IT) bands that connect the knee and hip,” said Dr. Shani. “Tight IT bands put excess pressure on the kneecap and, over time, can cause knee pain.” Basic exercises like straight leg lifts and calf pumps can strengthen the quads and hamstrings. Other important exercises include lunges and squats. In addition, heel drops can strengthen the vastus medialis muscle on the front inside of the quads. Although it’s common to take a wait-and-see attitude when resting from knee pain, Dr. Shani urges runners to get their injury checked out sooner rather than later. “Sometimes patients try to rest and put ice on the injury thinking it’s PFPS,” said Dr. Shani. “If the pain is caused by something else, it’s better to get the pain checked out and know it’s nothing more serious.” Runner’s Knee Affects More Women than Men Because women have wider hips than men do, they are more predisposed to experience runner’s knee. That’s because the Q angle of a woman’s knee – the measurement
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Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Contributed Photo Stretching and strengthening muscles to avoid injury is an essential part of any runner’s routine.
of the angle between the quadriceps muscle and the patellar tendon – is higher for women and can cause improper tracking of the kneecap. “That angle can affect how the patella fits into the femoral grove,” said
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Dr. Shani. “Over time, the repetitive stress of misalignment can lead to micro-tears to the knee cartilage and more serious problems.” See Injury P. 2B
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There is a hidden gem in our area, and its name is the Top Flight Youth Track Club. For a $65 fee, kids ages five through 18 can come train at Booker T. Washington High School three nights a week from November through May. One of them is 5-year old Galeairy Stevens who on a recent Monday was pushing herself to make it through all the frog jumps and bunny hops – conditioning exercises – before the running began. Another is Sammons Elementary student Donnae Banks who was trying Top Flight out for the first time. Her mother and grandmother said they brought her out because they noticed how much she enjoyed her school’s Field Day. Mattea Rodgers is an Oak Forest Elementary fifth grader who got a flyer about Top Flight in her school’s Wednesday folder and started in the fall. At a recent meet, she came in first in her
age group in the 1500 meter and the long jump and 3rd in the 800 meter. “I like running because I challenge myself to fun faster each lap,” said Mattea. Challenging kids is just what coaches Darader Hunter and Tippy Tidwell wanted to do seven years ago when they founded Top Flight, which is described on their web site as a program to “provide youth with the basic skills, teamwork, physical fitness, personal development, leadership, and sportsmanship.” Hunter, whose 12-year old Aric is a member of the club, was looking to provide kids with some enjoyable structure. “It’s easy for them to get into trouble,” she said. “This is something worthwhile to occupy their time.” Coach Jerry Edwards played a lot of sports in his youth. He and wife Katherine started attending practices with their son Austin after
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Living with Autism Youth take flight It was the pediatrician of Garden Oaks resident Michele Emmons who first voiced concern about the milestones her 1-year old son Julian Madrid was missing. The doctor thought that Julian was possibly on the autism spectrum. “It was his lack of eye contact too,” said Emmons. “There was a lot of repetition in his activities, like stacking things.” When she heard the doctor’s suspicions, Emmons had the same thought as any parent. She was afraid. “I was scared he wasn’t ever going to be able to Contributed Photo take care of himself,” she Michelle Emmons said that her two boys are great at interacting when they can do something physical, said. The family was referred like hanging out at the playground at Chick-fil-A. to Texas’ Early Childhood Intervention program which serves families with children, birth to three, with disabilities and developmental delays. They were on the waitlist to be seen at Texas Children’s Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics. The Madrid Family were offered the opportunity to take part in a study which both confirmed the diagnosis and got Julian bumped up on the waitlist. “The early diagnosis was PDD-NOS which is a pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified,” said Emmons. “The ADS, or autism spectrum disorder, came later.” Julian is one of the 1 in 68 children - 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls – who has received an ASD diagnosis. The eighth annual World Autism Awareness Day was April 2, but for the families and loved ones of those with autism, awareness of the disorder is a constant. Julian goes to hours of therapy a week. He does speech therapy at Garden Oaks Elementary and additional hours of speech and occupational therapy in a private setting. They also see a psychiatrist, a psychologist and are starting a 40 hour a week intense Apple Behavior Analytics (ABA) program this summer. Emmons had to quit her job and find a new one that offered insurance that would pay for everything Julian needed. She and her husband constantly do battle with insurance companies and they had to hire an attorney to help advocate for them in HISD. Sensory issues are a big deal for Julian. The Kindergarten program he is in at Garden Oaks is a part of the general education class. It has been a big adjustment from the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities (PPCD) contained pre-K class he was in two years ago. “When the school went on a field trip to Sears to see the trail riders, Julian couldn’t handle the smell and we had to leave,” said Emmons. “Julian has a hard time going to the grocery store, the lights and sounds are overwhelming. It’s especially difficult during Halloween when outdoor blow up ornaments are on display. We can’t go to that part of the store.”
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Sharon Smith, M.D. & Amber Dobyne, M.D. Photo by Betsy Denson Club members do a range of conditioning exercises before the running begins. Here, kids do the frog jump, followed by the bunny hop.
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