Gymnastics: Graceful, Exciting — And Disturbingly Dangerous
Gymnastics can be the most nail-biting event of any Olympics — but the worry isn't always over who'll win the gold. The first national study of gymnastics injuries, conducted by Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio, shows that gymnastics is among the most perilous sports for girls. Analyzing records of patients ages 6 to 17 who were treated in emergency rooms from 1990 to 2005, the study found that an average of 5 out of every 1,000 young gymnasts each year — about 27,000 — required medical attention for injuries ranging from sprains to nerve damage. Safer equipment and better training methods, however, may be making a difference. Injuries fell 25% over the 16-year period.
HIV: The Hunt for the Elusive Vaccine Goes On — and On
The road to an HIV vaccine hit another gully when the U.S. government canceled a trial of its most advanced experimental formula to date. The two-shot injection was similar to one that Merck developed and scrapped in 2007, after initial results showed that not only did it fail to protect against HIV, but in some cases it actually increased the risk of infection. Both vaccines were designed to test a new approach, one based on activating the body's cell-based immunity, in which killer immune cells take a more dominant role than antibodies in attacking HIV. Experts now believe not enough is known about this strategy to make a large-scale trial useful — yet. Researchers are hopeful the approach still holds promise; smaller studies are under way to work out how best to harness the body's virus-fighting cells.
