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Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sprains, strains and ACL tears: What to know about some of NFL players' most common injuries
Some of the most important players on NFL teams are those that might not necessarily start the season on the field. Depth is crucial during a rigorous 17-game regular-season schedule that's preceded by a month of training camp practices in hot conditions as players try to make team's 53-man active rosters. Injuries can play as big a role in an NFL team's successes or failures as the best game plans. So being able to navigate injuries and ailments to key players could make all the difference between a team seeing its season sink or making the playoffs. Here's a look at some of the most common injuries suffered by NFL players throughout the season: Achilles tendon tears The Achilles is the longest and strongest tendon in the body and stretches from the heel to the calf. It's a springy band located behind the ankle and just above the heel that helps players push off their feet, jump and accelerate. Due to overuse or excessive force placed on the tendon, it can tear or rupture. Surgery is typically necessary to reconnect the ends, sidelining a player for several months because of the extensive rehabilitation needed. ACL/PCL/MCL/LCL tears The anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, medial collateral and lateral collateral ligaments are all located in the knee and serve different purposes. The ACL connects the thigh bone to the shin bone in the front of the knee. While a sprain could sideline a player for a few weeks, a tear can end a season. The PCL is located behind the ACL, crisscrossing it to form an "X" in the center of the knee. The MCL connects the thigh bone to the shin bone on the inner side of the knee, while the LCL connects the thigh bone to the top of the lower leg, or fibula, and is located on the outer side of the knee. Concussions A concussion is a brain injury caused by a hit to the head or a sudden movement that causes the head and brain to shake violently. Symptoms may include headaches, neck pain, nausea, dizziness and feeling sluggish. The NFL has been regularly testing and upgrading helmets for players to help reduce the risk of concussions. Eight position-specific helmets for quarterbacks and linemen were approved by the NFL and the NFL Players Association last year. Several players also have worn Guardian Caps, soft, protective helmet covers that the NFL authorized players to use during games last season in an effort to reduce head injuries. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions and can only be diagnosed posthumously. It can cause memory loss, depression and violent mood swings. Hamstring injuries The hamstring is a group of four muscles that run along the back of the thigh, stretching from the hip to the knee, and they help a person bend their leg at the knee. These injuries vary in severity, and in turn, their timetable in sidelining a player. A mild pull of one of the muscles, commonly referred to as a Grade I injury, can sideline a player for a few days to a couple of weeks and can be a lingering condition if not sufficiently rested and healed. A Grade II hamstring injury involves a partial tear, while a Grade III injury is a complete tear of the hamstring that could require surgery and is likely season-ending. High ankle sprains When a player suffers a high ankle sprain, the ligaments above the ankle — which connect the tibia to the fibula — are affected rather than the ligaments outside the ankle in a low ankle sprain. High ankle sprains take much longer to recover from — six to eight weeks, and sometimes longer — than a classic ankle sprain, which might sideline a player for several days to a couple of weeks. Hip pointers The injury could sideline a player for a week or a couple of months, depending on the severity. A hip pointer is bruising in the pelvis and abdomen area, usually caused by blunt force, such as a hard tackle. The bleeding can affect several other muscles in the area, making it difficult to run or even walk. Lisfranc injuries A serious foot injury that can be career-threatening because of its complexity. A Lisfranc sprain or fracture is an injury in the middle of the foot in which at least one (or sometimes, all) of the small bones (or metatarsals) is broken or the ligaments that support the foot in that area are torn. Even a minor sprain not requiring surgical repair could take six to eight weeks to heal. Meniscus tears The meniscus is a crescent-shaped rubbery disk of cartilage that serves as a shock absorber on the inside and outer edges of the knee. Both help a person balance weight across the knee. When a meniscus is torn, the knee can lock up and swell. A minor tear can be treated with rest, but a severe tear could require surgery that may sideline a player for several weeks or months. Oblique strains An oblique strain involves the muscles on the side of the body between the ribs and pelvis. This type of injury can occur when a player takes a hard hit to the waist area or from overuse or sudden use of the muscles — for instance, a quarterback throwing a pass or a defensive back turning to defend a receiver. Oblique strains are usually treated with rest and could take a few weeks to heal, or could become a lingering issue otherwise. Patellar tendon injuries The patellar tendon allows a person to straighten a leg by acting with the quadriceps. Technically, it's a ligament because it connects the kneecap to the shin bone. Complete tears or ruptures often need to be surgically sewn back together and recovery is typically at least four to six months. Plantar fasciitis An injury that affects the bottom of the foot and can lead to intense heel pain. Plantar fasciitis occurs when the ligament supporting the arch of the foot — the plantar fascia — is strained and worsens when small tears develop in the ligament. The injury can sap players of speed while they deal with it. Rest, icing of the arch and finding new footwear are among typical treatments. It can linger for months. Turf toe An extremely painful injury that can sideline players for months. It occurs when the ligaments under the joint of the big toe are sprained or ruptured as a result of the toe being hyperextended. The injury makes it extremely difficult to push off and cut while running. ___ AP NFL:
The Hill
8 minutes ago
- The Hill
The FDA must be modernized for the era of personalized medicine
A baby named KJ was born in Philadelphia with an ultra-rare metabolic disorder that, under normal circumstances, would have required an organ transplant or been fatal. Instead, doctors sequenced KJ's genome and identified a unique mutation. Within six months, they designed and delivered a personalized CRISPR-based therapy — resulting in the first patient to be cured by a bespoke gene-editing treatment. A few years earlier, a young girl in Boston named Mila suffered from a fatal neurodegenerative disease. In just 10 months, a team of doctors designed, developed and synthesized a one-of-a-kind drug just for her, this time using an antisense oligonucleotide therapy that slowed the progression of her disease. These are more than medical miracles. They are proof that it is now possible to tailor medicines to a single person's genetic code. What is missing is a regulatory framework to scale these one-off breakthroughs into a new standard of care. Globally, more than 50 million children suffer from rare genetic diseases — and nearly one in five will die before the age of five. Even children with the same diagnosis can carry different genetic mutations, meaning a one-size-fits-all drug may be ineffective or impossible to make. The problem is our healthcare system isn't designed or incentivized to develop drugs for individual patients. The good news is that science and technology have caught up. We can now sequence a genome for under $100. Artificial intelligence models can design mutation-specific therapies in days and RNA-based treatments can be manufactured in weeks. Operation Warp Speed showed our ability to distribute advanced therapies at scale. And with wearables and digital health tools, we can monitor children's physiological response in real-time, both before and after treatment. The FDA's current approval framework is nearly a century old. It was originally designed to regulate mass-produced drugs for large populations. While there have been reforms since then, most have been incremental and tailored to conventional pharmaceutical development. The current process treats personalized medicines — especially 'N-of-1' therapies — as individual research trials. This approach is time-consuming, expensive and not scalable for the millions of patients who could benefit. Rare disease doesn't just affect patients, it drains families and their communities. Parents leave the workforce to become full-time caregivers. Families travel across the country for access to specialists. Experimental treatments, hospital stays, lost wages and uncovered expenses can bankrupt a family before a diagnosis is even confirmed. In many cases, the child's condition continues to deteriorate while waiting for a diagnosis or cure. The cumulative damage is incalculable. Thanks to advances in genomics, AI, synthetic biology and preclinical testing, personalized therapies are becoming more cost-effective and scalable. For example, the FDA's recent roadmap to phase out mandatory animal testing opens the door to validating therapies using artificial organs or a patient's own cells — improving safety while cutting time and cost. America remains a global leader in the core breakthroughs that made Mila and KJ's treatments possible — from CRISPR gene editing to large language models trained on protein and RNA structures. But that lead is fragile. The FDA has taken steps in the right direction, including establishing a pathway for personalized CAR-T therapies and issuing draft guidance for ASO drugs. But guidance isn't enough. We need a dedicated framework that clarifies the rules, requirements and incentives for those building personalized therapeutics. Without it, researchers and companies will hesitate to invest time and resources into what feels like regulatory guesswork. As the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services undergo what appear to be structural changes, this is a rare window to modernize regulation and secure America's position at the forefront of next-generation medicine. To turn personalized therapies into a new standard of care, the FDA can take a number of key steps. The agency should create a new regulatory pathway for bespoke therapeutics. N-of-1 drugs can't be evaluated using the traditional Phase 1-2-3 frameworks. We need an entirely new process-oriented framework that considers families, physicians, payers, regulators and industry alike. The FDA should establish a dedicated oversight body. A centralized group within the agency should review personalized therapeutics, set transparent safety and ethics standards and ensure rigorous tracking of outcomes. This will build consistency, speed and public trust. The agency should enable sustainable funding and reimbursement. Cost no longer needs to be the barrier. Clear regulatory rules will unlock investment, while reimbursement frameworks will ensure payers can cover these treatments responsibly. Absent this, safe and effective therapies may never reach patients. Every week matters for a child with a rare, degenerative condition. Acting now can turn scientific breakthroughs into a public health reality. If we wait, we risk letting outdated regulation stall progress — and watching the rest of the world move forward without us. The tools are here. The science is ready. All that's missing is a regulatory system built for the future of medicine that doesn't treat individualized care as an exception, but as the new standard. Nessan Bermingham is an operating partner at Khosla Ventures, where he invests in genetic medicines and AI drug discovery and development. He is also the founding CEO of Intellia Therapeutics, the founder and chairman of Korro Bio, and a board member of EveryONE Medicines.
Associated Press
9 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Sprains, strains and ACL tears: What to know about some of NFL players' most common injuries
Some of the most important players on NFL teams are those that might not necessarily start the season on the field. Depth is crucial during a rigorous 17-game regular-season schedule that's preceded by a month of training camp practices in hot conditions as players try to make team's 53-man active rosters. Injuries can play as big a role in an NFL team's successes or failures as the best game plans. So being able to navigate injuries and ailments to key players could make all the difference between a team seeing its season sink or making the playoffs. Here's a look at some of the most common injuries suffered by NFL players throughout the season: Achilles tendon tears The Achilles is the longest and strongest tendon in the body and stretches from the heel to the calf. It's a springy band located behind the ankle and just above the heel that helps players push off their feet, jump and accelerate. Due to overuse or excessive force placed on the tendon, it can tear or rupture. Surgery is typically necessary to reconnect the ends, sidelining a player for several months because of the extensive rehabilitation needed. ACL/PCL/MCL/LCL tears The anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, medial collateral and lateral collateral ligaments are all located in the knee and serve different purposes. The ACL connects the thigh bone to the shin bone in the front of the knee. While a sprain could sideline a player for a few weeks, a tear can end a season. The PCL is located behind the ACL, crisscrossing it to form an 'X' in the center of the knee. The MCL connects the thigh bone to the shin bone on the inner side of the knee, while the LCL connects the thigh bone to the top of the lower leg, or fibula, and is located on the outer side of the knee. Concussions A concussion is a brain injury caused by a hit to the head or a sudden movement that causes the head and brain to shake violently. Symptoms may include headaches, neck pain, nausea, dizziness and feeling sluggish. The NFL has been regularly testing and upgrading helmets for players to help reduce the risk of concussions. Eight position-specific helmets for quarterbacks and linemen were approved by the NFL and the NFL Players Association last year. Several players also have worn Guardian Caps, soft, protective helmet covers that the NFL authorized players to use during games last season in an effort to reduce head injuries. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions and can only be diagnosed posthumously. It can cause memory loss, depression and violent mood swings. Hamstring injuries The hamstring is a group of four muscles that run along the back of the thigh, stretching from the hip to the knee, and they help a person bend their leg at the knee. These injuries vary in severity, and in turn, their timetable in sidelining a player. A mild pull of one of the muscles, commonly referred to as a Grade I injury, can sideline a player for a few days to a couple of weeks and can be a lingering condition if not sufficiently rested and healed. A Grade II hamstring injury involves a partial tear, while a Grade III injury is a complete tear of the hamstring that could require surgery and is likely season-ending. High ankle sprains When a player suffers a high ankle sprain, the ligaments above the ankle — which connect the tibia to the fibula — are affected rather than the ligaments outside the ankle in a low ankle sprain. High ankle sprains take much longer to recover from — six to eight weeks, and sometimes longer — than a classic ankle sprain, which might sideline a player for several days to a couple of weeks. Hip pointers The injury could sideline a player for a week or a couple of months, depending on the severity. A hip pointer is bruising in the pelvis and abdomen area, usually caused by blunt force, such as a hard tackle. The bleeding can affect several other muscles in the area, making it difficult to run or even walk. Lisfranc injuries A serious foot injury that can be career-threatening because of its complexity. A Lisfranc sprain or fracture is an injury in the middle of the foot in which at least one (or sometimes, all) of the small bones (or metatarsals) is broken or the ligaments that support the foot in that area are torn. Even a minor sprain not requiring surgical repair could take six to eight weeks to heal. Meniscus tears The meniscus is a crescent-shaped rubbery disk of cartilage that serves as a shock absorber on the inside and outer edges of the knee. Both help a person balance weight across the knee. When a meniscus is torn, the knee can lock up and swell. A minor tear can be treated with rest, but a severe tear could require surgery that may sideline a player for several weeks or months. Oblique strains An oblique strain involves the muscles on the side of the body between the ribs and pelvis. This type of injury can occur when a player takes a hard hit to the waist area or from overuse or sudden use of the muscles — for instance, a quarterback throwing a pass or a defensive back turning to defend a receiver. Oblique strains are usually treated with rest and could take a few weeks to heal, or could become a lingering issue otherwise. Patellar tendon injuries The patellar tendon allows a person to straighten a leg by acting with the quadriceps. Technically, it's a ligament because it connects the kneecap to the shin bone. Complete tears or ruptures often need to be surgically sewn back together and recovery is typically at least four to six months. Plantar fasciitis An injury that affects the bottom of the foot and can lead to intense heel pain. Plantar fasciitis occurs when the ligament supporting the arch of the foot — the plantar fascia — is strained and worsens when small tears develop in the ligament. The injury can sap players of speed while they deal with it. Rest, icing of the arch and finding new footwear are among typical treatments. It can linger for months. Turf toe An extremely painful injury that can sideline players for months. It occurs when the ligaments under the joint of the big toe are sprained or ruptured as a result of the toe being hyperextended. The injury makes it extremely difficult to push off and cut while running. ___ AP NFL:
