https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The "Enhanced Games," which took place in Las Vegas from May 21–24, 2026, allow the use of performance-enhancing substances and technological equipment that are normally banned. They have been unanimously condemned by anti-doping authorities and have been the subject of fierce criticism, particularly in the media. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-games-issue.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:20:03 EDT news700140001 It's a cool Tuesday night in Columbia, South Carolina, and fans of the minor league baseball team the Columbia Fireflies are letting an opposing batter named Marcos Torres hear it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-athletes-depression-anxiety-suicide-minority.html Tue, 26 May 2026 15:00:04 EDT news699020641 Legendary 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus once stated golf was "90% mental and 10% physical." That's because, unlike most other ball sports, a golfer spends most of the time thinking about their game instead of actually playing it: the contact time a player has with the ball is minuscule compared to the time spent planning the next shot, or frustratedly replaying a previous wonky hit. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-yips-sport.html Sat, 16 May 2026 05:40:01 EDT news697972255 Last Thursday night at the MCG, fans witnessed a gripping game of AFL football between Carlton and Collingwood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-sports-gameday-mental-health-protocols.html Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:40:03 EDT news696161821 A recent move from a leading insurance provider has made it more difficult for AFL and AFLW players to access brain injury insurance. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-concussion-athletes.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:00:04 EDT news695472541 We live in what has been called the "distraction economy": an environment full of triggers that are engineered to demand our attention at every turn. The result is often fragmented attention, loss of focus, and sometimes even increased rumination and anxiety. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-distracted-hobbies-state-brain.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:00:01 EDT news695294871 Experiencing a sense of loss and sadness after dozens of hours spent on a video game? Researchers from SWPS University and the Stefan Batory Academy of Applied Sciences examined the feeling of emptiness that accompanies completing an engaging computer game. They created the world's first scale for measuring post-game depression, and published their research results in the journal Current Psychology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-video-game-depression-scientists-tool.html Thu, 19 Mar 2026 13:00:02 EDT news693143641 New research has revealed adult grassroots football players are five-times more likely to experience gambling problems than other adults in England, turning a healthy hobby into a hidden harm. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-12-grassroots-footballers-gambling-problems.html Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:50:01 EST news685187206 The goal of professional sports has always been to win. Looking good while doing it? That's just a bonus for the gawkers and connoisseurs of bodily form in motion. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-backhand-professional-tennis.html Fri, 05 Sep 2025 08:51:04 EDT news676281061 Modern vaccines have saved over 150 million lives. Yet misinformation about them can still have deadly consequences. A gunman recently opened fire at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, wrongly believing that the coronavirus vaccine had caused his depression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-game-vaccine-misinformation.html Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:52:27 EDT news674733134 Rugby union, commonly known as just rugby, is a fast-paced and physical team sport. More girls and women in Canada and around the world are playing it now than ever before. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-women-rugby-booming-safety-assumptions.html Mon, 28 Jul 2025 13:40:02 EDT news672925393 The widely held view among rugby players, coaches and officials is that headgear can't prevent concussion. If so, why wear it? It's hot, it can block vision and hearing, and it can be uncomfortable. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-rugby-headgear-concussion-materials-soften.html Fri, 11 Jul 2025 10:33:36 EDT news671448808 In video games, all players usually need to do to stay healthy is to drink the occasional healing potion or perhaps grab a floating heart. Avoiding zombies and killer aliens helps, too. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-score-bonus-video-gaming-extra.html Mon, 02 Jun 2025 10:27:06 EDT news668078821 More and more people are worried about the long-term effects of contact sports on the brain. In football (soccer), studies have found that repeatedly heading the ball can lead to memory problems and an increased risk of serious brain diseases. This has led to rules limiting heading the ball in youth leagues and calls to protect professional players in similar ways. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-brain-injury-contact-sports-overstated.html Tue, 01 Apr 2025 13:22:04 EDT news662732522 A recent study led by the University of Kent's School of Natural Sciences has found that short animations known as GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) can improve the sleep of professional female soccer players. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-short-animation-gifs-female-soccer.html Fri, 07 Mar 2025 12:28:03 EST news660572882 The "choking game" has potentially deadly consequences, as players are challenged to temporarily strangle themselves by restricting oxygen to the brain. It sounds terrifying, but rough estimates suggest that about 10% of U.S. teenagers may have played this type of game at least once. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-game-amplified-social-media-deadly.html Wed, 25 Dec 2024 15:40:01 EST news654168821 More than half of all people who experience sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospital don't receive immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). As a result, 9 out of 10 times they die. Yet it takes just 90 seconds to learn the fundamentals of Hands-Only CPR to save a life. CPR, especially if performed immediately, can double or triple a person's chance of survival. To save more lives, the American Heart Association and the National Football League (NFL) are actively putting boots on the ground—cleats on the field—to educate more Americans about this lifesaving skill. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-nfl-player-ambassadors-urge-fans.html Wed, 16 Oct 2024 09:36:48 EDT news648290202 Playing Wordle or Sudoku each morning over a cup of coffee probably won't boost your brain powers, but the mood and confidence lift these games provide is reason enough to keep playing, new University of Oregon research shows. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-digital-games-overlooked-ally-mental.html Thu, 06 Jun 2024 09:46:46 EDT news636886000 Retiring from professional sport can be anguishing for some athletes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-athletes-mental-health-young-sportspeople.html Thu, 23 May 2024 12:58:04 EDT news635687882 An editorial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine by experts from Spaulding Rehabilitation, Boston University, Mayo Clinic, and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, argues that the term "subconcussion" is a dangerous misnomer that should be retired. The authors are appealing to the medical community and media to substitute the term with more specific terms so the public can better understand the risks of brain injuries and advance effective efforts to prevent chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-concussion-experts-term-impacts-subconcussion.html Tue, 14 May 2024 13:01:04 EDT news634910461 In recent years, a growing number of professional athletes are medically retiring from sport, particularly in some of Australia's most popular football codes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-athlete-medically-due-concussion.html Mon, 13 May 2024 14:50:01 EDT news634822746 Over the past decades, numerous studies have investigated the neural and cognitive processes underpinning intergroup conflict, as this could help to explain what fuels belligerent behavior, political clashes, and wars. While these works gathered some interesting findings, much about these processes remains poorly understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-exploring-oxytocin-interacts-testosterone-humans.html Mon, 08 Apr 2024 09:10:01 EDT news631785989 Australian Rules Football and illicit drugs have been in the media for all the wrong reasons recently. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-cocaine-athletes-athlete.html Wed, 03 Apr 2024 12:40:02 EDT news631365790 Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting "off the books" illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches under false pretenses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-racket-fair-medical-afl-illicit.html Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:14:03 EDT news630846841 Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries. It was first described as dementia pugilistica and punch drunk syndrome almost 100 years ago. CTE continues to be a serious risk associated with high-impact sports, such as boxing, American football and rugby. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-children-high-impact-sports-abuse.html Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:01:04 EST news626443261 As I watched the Fifa Women's World Cup, I was probably one of many who couldn't help but feel inspired by the women on the pitch, showing their elite fitness and ability. However, many female athletes have spoken out about the pressures they feel in regards to their bodies and the way they look. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-female-athletes-strong-feminine.html Tue, 29 Aug 2023 13:40:01 EDT news612534864 Over 25 of the world's top female soccer players are missing the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup because of ACL tears, including Canada's Janine Beckie. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-women-world-cup-epidemic-acl.html Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:29:01 EDT news610190932 Social media is so often plagued by disinformation that it's easy to overlook its positive effects. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccine denialism and dangerous fallacies flooded platforms, millions of people around the world relied on those same channels for timely knowledge on the virus and how to avoid it. In fact, several research studies have shown regular social media users were better informed about the virus and more likely to follow public health guidelines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-outlines-combat-disinformation-social-media.html Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:23:05 EDT news607872177 It is well known that early resuscitation with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated external defibrillator (AED) saves lives, and in most sports-related sudden cardiac arrest events, trainers or medical personnel respond and initiate protocols to resuscitate a player while other athletes standby. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-06-resuscitation-on-field-cardiac-teammates-sports.html Thu, 08 Jun 2023 16:43:20 EDT news605461397 More than a quarter of people in the UK gamble online at least once every four weeks. And 1%–2% of UK adults demonstrate moderate-to-high risk levels of gambling-related harms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-technology-play-vital-role-limiting.html Mon, 15 May 2023 12:02:04 EDT news603370921