Have your say

Unnecessary alarm

Your Aug. 18 article Hockey concussions rampant is somewhat misleading and may cause unnecessary alarm, especially for hockey parents. The authors of the study correctly indicated that these are very preliminary results and, taken in the current context, could be misunderstood.

Considering that only 700 of 15,000 surveys were returned (a 4.5 per cent return rate), and given that those who have sustained a concussion are presumably most likely to respond to the survey, the results have to be interpreted with extreme caution.

I suspect that the authors released the information in hopes of generating more interest in their survey and increasing the response rate (from both those who have sustained a concussion and those who have not) to get a more definitive picture of what is actually happening in amateur hockey in Manitoba.

On a more concerning note, the second article, Hockey's head game gets players thinking, includes a graphic that classifies concussions into three levels from mild (grade 1) to severe (grade 3), This is currently unacceptable in the medical community.

Each individual experiences the symptoms of a concussion differently, depending on which part of the brain has been affected. What may appear to be severe symptoms can quickly resolve and what at first appear to be mild symptoms can progress to be a much more severe, sometimes life-threatening situation.

The graphic also gives return-to-play guidelines that are not current. We do not return an athlete to play in the same game if they have experienced "any one" of the varied symptoms of concussion.

Athletes do not automatically return to play after one week of being symptom-free. Rather, they are placed in a graded return-to-play program that will take at least an additional week.

GLEN BERGERON

Heads Up Concussion Institute

University of Winnipeg

The hockey world is sick to death of hearing concussion facts. Everyone is well aware of it, but awareness is one thing and change is another.

Until there is adequate face protection and the parameters of the game revert back to pre-'05 lockout ones, there will be no change to these statistics.

Speed is the biggest factor in concussions in sport and since the lockout, changes to player restraint infractions, two-line passes and goalie puck-handling zones have attributed to a significantly faster game.

In addition, the average player size has gone up and players are now wearing bulkier equipment. Bigger players going faster -- it's simple physics.

JORDAN VOTH

Winnipeg

Important relationship

Re: The more you make, the better your health, survey suggests (Aug. 14). The authors of this study missed an important relationship between access to health care and income. While it's true that income ranked low on the list of factors that respondents felt affected their health and access to health care ranked in the top three, in reality, access is dependent on income.

Canadian health care has many tiers, with the patient's ability to pay for better care determining availability.

Consider the following examples: Conventional prostate cancer therapies (prostatectomy and/or radiation therapy) have as their common side effects impotence and incontinence, but high-intensity focused ultrasound leaves sexual and urinary function intact (at a price to the patient of $22,000).

Health Canada states that poor oral health affects nutrition and self-esteem and can lead to serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Dental implants offer the same ability to chew food properly as real teeth (at a cost to the patient of as much as $25,000).

While diabetes and sleep apnea are kept in check by government-funded programs of insulin and CPAP, bariatric and metabolic surgery can eliminate these diseases completely (at a cost to the patient of $17,000).

Although each of the above therapies is approved by the Canadian government, and recognized as effective, none is paid for by our provincial health-care plan. It is the patient's ability to pay tens of thousands of dollars for treatment that determines his or her ability to receive the superior care.

DAVID SELCH

Canada Council for Affordable Healthcare

Winnipeg

Another dark side

I will piggyback onto Don Boehmer's Aug. 17 letter, Leases have downsides, and mention the equally dark side to condominium ownership. As the non-existent laws stand right now, condominium owners have no rights.

The (private) law states whatever a condominium board does is in the best interests of the condominium. Harassment, bullying, breaking the board's own rules, arbitrary enforcement of rules, all and more are currently permitted. Condominium owners subject to such treatment must either sell out or suffer until and if a new board is elected.

TIM SAYEAU

Winnipeg

Indulging in politics

In High-standard care (Letters, Aug. 18), Dr. Daniel Klass indulges in political speech when he says that uninsured Americans wait "forever" if they have no health-care insurance.

In my nine years in practice in the U.S., I never saw anyone without insurance wait longer than two weeks to be fully insured with Medicaid.

Dr. HENRY P. KRAHN

Mesa, Ariz.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 21, 2012 A6