Diabetes and sport injury.

[jays4life19]

Everyone knows that having diabetes certainly does not give you a leg up when it comes to preventing sports related injuries. We have personally witnessed the troubles that Dustin Mcgowan and Brandon Morrow have gone through. With Brandon Morrow being such a wild card for us this year i wanted to do some quick research in seeing just how much diabetes effects the chances of sustaining an injury. The results are pretty disturbing...

 

 

"People with long-standing diabetes are additionally prone to nerve compression syndromes at the elbow and wrist that may be aggravated by repetitive activities" - Sheri Colberg, PhD

 

- Brandon Morrow misses basically all of 2013 when an entrapped radial nerve.

 

"Overuse injuries are more common in people with diabetes because of structural changes in their joints caused by long-term elevations in blood glucose levels and ensuing oxidative stress and damage" - Sheri Colberg, PhD

 

- This is fantastic news (not) for pitchers who want to throw a ball for 180+ innings in any given year.

 

"One area of scientific understanding that remains extremely limited is management of competitive athletes with diabetes. While there are a number of anecdotal descriptions of management strategies used by these athletes and several published case reports, there are very few well-controlled studies that add to our knowledge of formulating effective treatment plans" -

 

W. Guyton Hornsby, Jr., PhD, CDE and

Robert D. Chetlin, PhD, CSCS

 

- Well that's f***ing lovely.

 

Brandon Morrow is pretty outspoken that he's not "injury prone" and the label seems to bother him quite a bit often citing that his oblique injury was a "freak occurrence" but from spending a few mins on the internet it seems like having type 1 diabetes is a pretty big deal when it comes to overuse injuries and being a professional starting pitcher you're certainly over using your arm.

 

Has there ever been a successful MLB pitcher with Diabetes? Mark Lowe had diabetes but he sucked.

 

Would seem like Brandon Morrow has an uphill battle to stay healthy and have a long career.

 

Your thoughts?

 

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/64-/15052-overuse-injuries-in-diabetes

 

http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/18/2/102.full

[Brenner]

If he can't stay healthy this year then likely his $10 mil option for next year will be declined. He'll sign somewhere and be converted to a reliever. Its unfortunately for him as he'd make a lot more money as a starter, and will take a pay cut to be a reliever.

[Frag]

There isn't a long list of players who had diabetes, but some big players had it. Most famous player who had it was Ron Santo who, while not a pitcher, hid it for most of his career.

[jays4life19]

If he can't stay healthy this year then likely his $10 mil option for next year will be declined. He'll sign somewhere and be converted to a reliever. Its unfortunately for him as he'd make a lot more money as a starter, and will take a pay cut to be a reliever.

 

I think the best case scenario is that he stays somewhat healthy in 2014 and has a strong year so we pick up the option and then trade him.

 

I don't want anything to do with a long term contract on a diabetic pitcher when there's never been a successful one before.

[LunchBox]

Giving contracts to professional athletes with chronic diseases, no matter how talented, is like hiring a narcoleptic to work in a dimly lit office. Realistically these guys knew their conditions would result in adversity but signed the contracts anyway, they have an obligation to do their job. I wouldn't blame the organization for running them into the ground at this point.

[saskjayfan]

There isn't a long list of players who had diabetes, but some big players had it. Most famous player who had it was Ron Santo who, while not a pitcher, hid it for most of his career.

 

Katfish hunter is missing from that list and he had 224 wins...so you can have success with type 1 diabetes...however it makes things a lot more challenging.

[jays4life19]

Katfish hunter is missing from that list and he had 224 wins...so you can have success with type 1 diabetes...however it makes things a lot more challenging.

 

Missed him. So there is one...

 

Although he did retire at age 33 due to arm issues and troubles with his diabetes.

[Chappy]

Missed him. So there is one...

 

Although he did retire at age 33 due to arm issues and troubles with his diabetes.

 

It's a huge issue for athletes, but people are more aware of how to manage it these days. While Morrow will likely be able to live a long healthy life before the diabetes becomes a serious issue, he will always likely struggle as an athlete. He is likely just asking too much of his body and it's breaking down more frequently as a result.

[ElNik2013]

It is what it is, it's not like he cost much to obtain.

 

He should be regarded as the #4 starter, kind of like Lackey was for the Red Sox going into last year. Hopefully, they get Burnett or Jimenez and Drew at good prices.

[Dick_Pole]

Missed him. So there is one...

 

Although he did retire at age 33 due to arm issues and troubles with his diabetes.

 

Dave Stieb was essentially useless at age 33...Halladay's expiry date came way sooner than I expected...so I wouldn't consider retirement at age 33 with a career that started at 19 such a huge loss thanks to diabetes. Even without it he had maybe a couple of so-so years left unless he was built extra robust like Randy Johnson or Nolan Ryan.

[Chappy]

Dave Stieb was essentially useless at age 33...Halladay's expiry date came way sooner than I expected...so I wouldn't consider retirement at age 33 with a career that started at 19 such a huge loss thanks to diabetes. Even without it he had maybe a couple of so-so years left unless he was built extra robust like Randy Johnson or Nolan Ryan.

 

The diabetes angle gets blown out of proportion in my opinion. It does impact injuries and recovery time, but so few athletes suffer from this condition to begin with that opinions can easily be skewed. Proper diet, conditioning and lifestyle can go a long way towards minimizing or even in some cases almost eliminating the effects of diabetes.

[jays4life19]

The diabetes angle gets blown out of proportion in my opinion. It does impact injuries and recovery time, but so few athletes suffer from this condition to begin with that opinions can easily be skewed. Proper diet, conditioning and lifestyle can go a long way towards minimizing or even in some cases almost eliminating the effects of diabetes.

 

This was basically my opinion before doing some research on it.

 

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/64-/15052-overuse-injuries-in-diabetes

 

Now....I don't know. Seems like a pretty big deal.

[jays4life19]

From the original post...

 

"One area of scientific understanding that remains extremely limited is management of competitive athletes with diabetes. While there are a number of anecdotal descriptions of management strategies used by these athletes and several published case reports, there are very few well-controlled studies that add to our knowledge of formulating effective treatment plans" -

 

W. Guyton Hornsby, Jr., PhD, CDE and

Robert D. Chetlin, PhD, CSCS

[Chappy]

This was basically my opinion before doing some research on it.

 

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/articles/64-/15052-overuse-injuries-in-diabetes

 

Now....I don't know. Seems like a pretty big deal.

 

Opinions vary drastically on the matter in some cases. I don't dispute that it can be devastating in some cases, but it isn't as big of an issue in the early years, especially when monitored and treated appropriately. It does have an impact, no doubt about it, but I'm not so sure we can attribute every or even most injuries without further research.

[thatcher]

It bothers me to no end that pitchers in the mlb are so out of shape. They might be able to throw hard and accurate, but so many get injured or sick because of being unhealthy. I know plenty of people with diabetes...one is a very close friend & was a division 1 collegiate softball player who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when she was 17 (very rare) and played second base perfectly fine, while still being active in many other aspects of her life. Why? She made sure she ate healthy, exercised properly, and paid attention to her issue. To me, professional players who blame their illness to poor play are not properly taking care of themselves off the field and they are just making excuses.