High School Football Team Research Articles

Meningitis in the Athlete

Infectious diseases among athletic teams commonly present challenges for team physicians and primary care doctors. There is some evidence to suggest that athletes are more susceptible to infection during an outbreak of the general population. The frequent physical contact and close travel arrangements associated with many team sports may put athletes at even greater risk. Viral meningitis is the most commonly reported central nervous system infection in the literature, and transmission seems to be increased among U.S. high school football teams. Septic meningitis is a life-threatening emergency that can occur in outbreaks affecting populations frequently involved in organized athletics (adolescents and young adults). The purpose of this review is to identify current medical literature on the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of meningitis in the athletic population.

Dancing around the Subject: Race in Country Fan Culture

Two roommates are hanging out in a dorm, playing their records for each other. Alan puts on one of his favorite tunes, and from the speakers, country star Buck Owens belts out “Act Naturally” in his trademark, twangy Bakersfield vocals.1 Alan bounces awkwardly out of time to the music, a look of pure glee on his face. Nearly giddy with enthusiasm, he blurts out, “Yes! This one … I mean, I don't even have to ask, but I will. What do you think of this one?” His roommate cradles his head in his hands, and with his face grimaced in an expression of pure agony, wails, “Does the term ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ mean anything to you?!” This short scene appeared in October 2000 in Hollywood's blockbuster film Remember the Titans, a triumphant story of teamwork and friendship overcoming racial difference and segregation.2 Based on the true story of integrating white and black high school football teams in Virginia, the film used its soundtrack to highlight cultural differences based on race. Alan (played by Ryan Gosling) is white; his roommate Blue (Earl C. Poitier) is black, and Blue's musical sensibilities are obviously assaulted by Alan's beloved country music. By the end of the film, the white and black players have befriended each other, both on the playing field and off. The soundtrack artfully represents their reconciliation by having all the players embrace the same music—decidedly not the country twang that Alan introduced, but instead the soul and rhythm-and-blues tracks that the black players brought.

Breaking the Silence: Power, Conflict, and Contested Frames within an Affluent High School

This article examines an incident between male student athletes within a locker room at a private school. The reaction of many in this school community to this incident reveals that “hazing” rituals were normally ignored or condoned by many of the parents, coaches, administrators, and teachers who were aware of them. These attitudes changed when the incident was formally brought to the attention of the larger, public audience of the community. We analyze conflicting framings of this incident, exploring how a “joke” in the private space of the locker room became a case of “sexual harassment” in the public arena of the school, and how subsequent conflicts emerged and were resolved. We examine the reasons why different individuals and constituencies had different ways of framing the event, and how this incident can be framed as “hazing,”“joking,” or a liminoid rite of initiation into an affluent high school's football team.

COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS OUTBREAK IN A LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM UNSUCCESSFUL INTERVENTIONS

A retrospective review of an outbreak of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus soft tissue infections in a high school football team was conducted. Thirteen players had 20 infections. Available community-acquired methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates showed identical antibiotic susceptibility and field inversion gel electrophoresis analysis band patterns. Nasal cultures and mupirocin were ineffective at predicting and controlling infection, respectively. Infections treated with beta-lactam antibiotics were at risk for recurrence.

Does Testosterone Relate To Physical Maturity Of 13???14 Year-old Boys Involved In American Football?

The literature claims that involvement in organized sports, like American football, could provoke marked fluctuations in testosterone levels. However, little is known how involvement in American football interacts with the physical maturation process. PURPOSE To examine the relationship between involvement in American football and testosterone (T) levels of 13–14 year-old boys and in addition examine how this involvement in sports was associated with their physical maturation process. METHODS Thirty-two male football players (age 14 +/- 0.4), members of a junior high school football team, volunteered to participate in the study. Each participant was given a coded envelope containing two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was used to quantify the number of training sessions and training hours per week as well as the time period they were involved in the sport both during and off-season. The second questionnaire was a physical maturity questionnaire modified for males. Bioelectrical impedance was used to estimate relative body fat [percent body fat (%BF)] using the variables, age, weight, height and sex. In addition, the OMROM displayed the BMI of each participant. Two samples of saliva were collected to avoid the complication of diurnal fluctuations of testosterone. The second sample was taken an hour after the first sampling, and the means from both collections were calculated. RESULTS No significant difference (depended pair t-test, P =0.05) was found between the two T samples. Height was significantly correlated (r = .434, P=0.05) with Physical Maturity. As expected, weight was significantly correlated (r = .530, P <v:shape id=_x0000_i1027 style=“WIDTH: 5.25pt; HEIGHT: 7.5pt” alt=“0.01”) with the body fat percentage and BMI. Total free Testosterone was not significantly related to any of the variables. Percent body fat (%BF) and BMI were significantly correlated (r =. 707, P <v:shape id=_x0000_i1028 style=“WIDTH: 5.25pt; HEIGHT: 7.5pt” alt=“0.01”). CONCLUSIONS The findings of the study indicate that physical maturation is not associated with the number or hours of training. Exercise training had little relationship to the participants T levels and the T levels had little relationship to physical maturity. Further investigation is needed to determine what factors are involved (hormonal changes, epiphyseal injuries, athlete selection, etc) and how these factors might affect the maturation process of prepubertal children that are involved in sports incorporating intense training. In addition, further investigation is needed to define the intensive training threshold that might affect physical maturation.

Does Testosterone Relate To Physical Maturity Of 13–14 Year-old Boys Involved In American Football?

The literature claims that involvement in organized sports, like American football, could provoke marked fluctuations in testosterone levels. However, little is known how involvement in American football interacts with the physical maturation process. PURPOSE To examine the relationship between involvement in American football and testosterone (T) levels of 13–14 year-old boys and in addition examine how this involvement in sports was associated with their physical maturation process. METHODS Thirty-two male football players (age 14 +/- 0.4), members of a junior high school football team, volunteered to participate in the study. Each participant was given a coded envelope containing two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was used to quantify the number of training sessions and training hours per week as well as the time period they were involved in the sport both during and off-season. The second questionnaire was a physical maturity questionnaire modified for males. Bioelectrical impedance was used to estimate relative body fat [percent body fat (%BF)] using the variables, age, weight, height and sex. In addition, the OMROM displayed the BMI of each participant. Two samples of saliva were collected to avoid the complication of diurnal fluctuations of testosterone. The second sample was taken an hour after the first sampling, and the means from both collections were calculated. RESULTS No significant difference (depended pair t-test, P =0.05) was found between the two T samples. Height was significantly correlated (r = .434, P=0.05) with Physical Maturity. As expected, weight was significantly correlated (r = .530, P <v:shape id=_x0000_i1027 style=“WIDTH: 5.25pt; HEIGHT: 7.5pt” alt=“0.01”) with the body fat percentage and BMI. Total free Testosterone was not significantly related to any of the variables. Percent body fat (%BF) and BMI were significantly correlated (r =. 707, P <v:shape id=_x0000_i1028 style=“WIDTH: 5.25pt; HEIGHT: 7.5pt” alt=“0.01”). CONCLUSIONS The findings of the study indicate that physical maturation is not associated with the number or hours of training. Exercise training had little relationship to the participants T levels and the T levels had little relationship to physical maturity. Further investigation is needed to determine what factors are involved (hormonal changes, epiphyseal injuries, athlete selection, etc) and how these factors might affect the maturation process of prepubertal children that are involved in sports incorporating intense training. In addition, further investigation is needed to define the intensive training threshold that might affect physical maturation.

Analysis of baseline by treatment interactions in a drug prevention and health promotion program for high school male athletes

This paper investigates baseline by treatment interactions (BTI) of a randomized anabolic steroid prevention program delivered to high school football players. Baseline by treatment interactions occur when a participant's score on an outcome variable is associated with both their pretreatment standing on the outcome variable and the treatment itself. The program was delivered to 31 high school football teams (Control=16, Treatment=15) in Oregon and Washington over the course of 3 years (Total N=3207). Although most interactions were nonsignificant, consistent baseline by treatment interactions were obtained for knowledge of the effects of steroid use and intentions to use steroids. Both of these interactions were beneficial in that they increased the effectiveness of the program for participants lower in knowledge and higher in intentions at baseline.

The Town that Sold its Sunset

Rising above Pennsylvania's fertile river valleys, an ancient Appalachian ridgeline abuts the town of Palmerton. At the base of this corroded mountain, the day's dying rays seem to linger long after sunset. Mountain-veiled dusk swaths a town where people still know each other's names, attend the community festival in August, and root for the high school football team, the "Bombers." Many residents see nothing wrong with Palmerton. And little is wrong—except that the town and surrounding mountain are poisoned. The mountain above Palmerton is bare. Its trees are dead, its wildlife has fled, and with each rain its dark soil flows down open earthen arteries. Some town yards nurse not even a blade of grass. Instead, townspeople hold Fourth of July barbeques on backyards of blacktop, bark chips and Astroturf. Louise Calvin's yard was once one of these areas. On a warm day in April, I meet Louise Calvin in a small diner near her hometown and not far from my hometown. She introduces herself and asks that I call her Louise. As she speaks to me, she looks past the droning lights and the dull metal shell of the café, over the homes and the gray-granite graveyards, past the onion-dome churches and sky-slicing smokestacks to the heart of Palmerton—a rust-red zinc smelter. Palmerton was born to refine zinc. Its houses and churches cluster around an industry that melts rock for the metal within. From 1898 until 1980, Palmerton's people fed ore to the town smelter. With each passing year, its stacks belched lead, cadmium, arsenic, and zinc—smelting's toxic by-products—across the town and valley. Pollution from zinc smelting has now put Palmerton on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) list of the most contaminated places in the country. But many of Louise's neighbors disagree with the agency. The dangerous levels [End Page 90] of lead in their homes, some residents say, came from old lead paint on their walls. It could not have come, they say, from their jobs. A photograph in Louise's mother's high school yearbook from 1939 shows a forested mountain overlooking a wilderness town. The trees of sixty years ago grew so dense that at sunset the mountain appeared washed in a subdued midnight blue against a polychrome sky. For this reason, people called the ridge "Blue Mountain." But the mountain above Palmerton no longer shimmers blue at day's end. Today the treeless mountain has faded to gray. A yearbook picture is all Louise has to remind her that the mountain once grew trees. During the 1930s the smelter's researchers developed something called Leafox-200, a zinc oxide product that prevents mold and fungus on houseplants. The product worked better than expected. As smelter smoke spread Leafox-200's ingredients throughout the valley, an area surrounding Palmerton's zinc smelter twice the size of Manhattan has been defoliated, denuded, and destroyed. The town continues to operate under a dusty veil. People awake to sun streaks on corroding smelter stacks. Babies crawl across Astroturf lawns. Nurses draw blood from young children to test for lead contamination. Residents work on at the smelter. People endure in this town without a view—a town that long ago sold its sunset. I grew up a few miles south of Palmerton on the other side of Blue Mountain. In the lee of the mountain, my home was shielded from Palmerton's poisoned wind. But one day at the age of twelve, I hiked beyond the mountain's green veil and saw the other side. Now, after many years of researching similar environmental problems, I find myself again on the trail to Palmerton. As I have done so many times before, I travel the road from my house that curls through a notch in the mountain and on toward Palmerton. From this notch, the mountain stretches southwest...

Volume, Surface Area, and the Harmonic Mean

1. E. Barbeau, Perron's result and a decision on admission tests, this MAGAZINE 59: 1 (1986), 12-22. 2. D. Harville, The use of linear-model methodology to rate high school or college football teams, J. Amer Statist. Assoc. 72 (1977), 278. 3. T. A. Jech, The ranking of incomplete tournaments: a mathematician's guide to popular sports, Amer. Math. Monthly 90 (1983), 246-266. 4. J. P. Keener, The Perron-Frobenius theorem and the ranking of football teams, SIAM Review 35:1 (1993), 80-93.

Kids with medical conditions need help choosing the right sport

![Figure][1] Choosing the most appropriate sport can be difficult for children who suffer from medical conditions. Larry, a Colorado high school student with congenital aortic stenosis, dreams of becoming the punter on his high school football team. Like other adolescents who suffer from

Multilevel Modeling of Individual and Group Level Mediated Effects

This article combines procedures for single-level mediational analysis with multilevel modeling techniques in order to appropriately test mediational effects in clustered data. A simulation study compared the performance of these multilevel mediational models with that of single-level mediational models in clustered data with individual- or group-level initial independent variables, individual- or group-level mediators, and individual level outcomes. The standard errors of mediated effects from the multilevel solution were generally accurate, while those from the single-level procedure were downwardly biased, often by 20% or more. The multilevel advantage was greatest in those situations involving group-level variables, larger group sizes, and higher intraclass correlations in mediator and outcome variables. Multilevel mediational modeling methods were also applied to data from a preventive intervention designed to reduce intentions to use steroids among players on high school football teams. This example illustrates differences between single-level and multilevel mediational modeling in real-world clustered data and shows how the multilevel technique may lead to more accurate results.

Mediating mechanisms in a program to reduce intentions to use anabolic steroids and improve exercise self-efficacy and dietary behavior.

This study investigated the mediating mechanisms responsible for the effects of a program designed to reduce intentions to use anabolic steroids, improve nutrition, and increase strength training self-efficacy. Fifteen of 31 high school football teams (N = 1,506 players at baseline) in Oregon and Washington were assigned to receive the intervention. The multicomponent program addressed the social influences promoting ergogenic drug use and engaging students in healthy nutrition and strength training alternative behaviors. Although the results differed across the three dependent variables, the program appeared to work by changing team norms. Unlike prevention of other drugs, changes in knowledge and perceived severity were mediators of program effects in this study.

The Consumption of Our Heritage

From the Department of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School. Chicago. Illinois. Requests for reprints should be addressed to David L. Nahrwold, MD, Department of Surgery, 250 East Superior Street, Suite 201, Chicago, Illinois 60611. Presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, San Antonio, Texas, May 15-16, 1990. I am grateful to all of you for the privilege of serving as your President. Many people work hard on behalf of the membership and the entire digestive disease community, including the Board of Trustees and its chairman, the other officers, the members of our committees and their chairmen, and our representatives to other organizations. The many members who have had a continuing commitment to the Society have brought it to maturity. I thank all of you for this. With continued growth in membership, and careful attention to the environment in which the digestive disease community learns and works, the Society will become an increasingly important force in education, research, and patient care. Although the future of our Society is bright, the present outlook for our profession gives rise to serious concern. This is a good time to examine the heritage of our profession, to assess the factors that appear to be influencing it, and to determine what, if anything, we should do to preserve it. For the greater portion of the 20th century, the medical profession enjoyed tremendous success. During the first part of the century, doctors enjoyed respect and prestige in part because they were among the relatively few who had higher degrees. They were viewed in the same light as judges, educators, and the clergy. Physicians were willing and able community servants. Whether as individuals or as members of the local medical society, doctors were eager to provide public health information, develop and conduct community-wide immunization programs, and provide medical coverage for the high school football team, the Boy Scouts, and even the county jail, often without remuneration. Fees varied according to the patient’s ability to pay. Poor families and elderly people who had no income were not charged, nor were teachers or the clergy. Physicians often donated their services to the county welfare department, and in larger cities, they staffed and supervised the care delivered by residents on the ward services of community hospitals. Many specialists donated as much as a day or more each week to the care of patients in our country’s great city and county hospitals. For all these activities, the medical profession received generous praise and the admiration and respect of the community. During the middle of the 20th century, scientific research led to a comprehensive understanding of the natural history of most diseases. Untreatable diseases became treatable by so-called miracle drugs and by procedures generally regarded as spectacular. Antibiotics, tranquilizers, antihypertensives, anticancer drugs, and a host of surgical and other procedures and drugs cured or ameliorated many diseases and conditions, resulting in lives that were both longer and of better quality. The media thrust these advances into the living rooms and kitchens of all Americans. Correctly or not, doctors and scientists were

Now &amp; Then: Dancing in Time and Space: A Step Back in Time

Now… Michael Anthony Began What Would Be His Career as a dancer when he was in elementary school. His parents had e nrolled him in both piano and dance classes. and he soon discovered his love of music. During junior high school, he succumbed to peer pressure and dropped dance to play sports. Michael's agility and conditioning from dance, however. proved he lpful on both the court and the field, and he soon became a valued member of his junior high school football and basketball team. By the time he started high school, he realized how much he missed dance. While continuing his sports, he returned to dance lessons and found the theater to be a wonderful place to incorporate dance with high school life. After high school, Michael attended the Boston Conservatory. majoring in musical theater and minoring in dance. He believes that his strong mathematic background significantly helped him in his music-theory courses and that it is an asset in his career as a director, composer, and choreographer.

Effects of a multidimensional anabolic steroid prevention intervention. The Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS) Program

To test a team-based, educational intervention designed to reduce adolescent athletes' intent to use anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS). Randomized prospective trial. Thirty-one high school football teams in the Portland, Ore, area. Seven hundred two adolescent football players at experimental schools; 804 players at control schools. Seven weekly, 50-minute class sessions were delivered by coaches and student team leaders, addressing AAS effects, sports nutrition and strength-training alternatives to AAS use, drug refusal role play, and anti-AAS media messages. Seven weight-room sessions were taught by research staff. Parents received written information and were invited to a discussion session. Questionnaires before and after intervention and at 9- or 12-month follow-up, assessing AAS use risk factors, knowledge and attitudes concerning AAS, sports nutrition and exercise knowledge and behaviors, and intentions to use AAS. Compared with controls, experimental subjects at the long-term follow-up had increased understanding of AAS effects, greater belief in personal vulnerability to the adverse consequences of AAS, improved drug refusal skills, less belief in AAS-promoting media messages, increased belief in the team as an information source, improved perception of athletic abilities and strength-training self-efficacy, improved nutrition and exercise behaviors, and reduced intentions to use AAS. Many other beneficial program effects remained significant at the long-term follow-up. This AAS prevention program enhanced healthy behaviors, reduced factors that encourage AAS use, and lowered intent to use AAS. These changes were sustained over the period of 1 year. Team-based interventions appear to be an effective approach to improve adolescent behaviors and reduce drug use risk factors.

The effect of using frontal shoe orthotics and plyometric training on selected functional measurements in junior high school football players

Plyometric training incorporates quick powerful movements involving an active pre-stretching (eccentric muscle contraction) prior to concentric contraction. It has been claimed that the effect of plyometric training could be enhanced using a frontal shoe orthotic due to increased overload created by this appliance. However, no study to date has examined this claim. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine whether the use of the Jumpsole, a frontal shoe orthotic, will enhance the effect of plyometric training on vertical jump, 40 yard dash time, and calf circumference. Thirty five healthy eighth and ninth grade males participating on the same junior high school football team volunteered to participate in this study. A stratified sampling technique was used to ensure similarity on a weight and position basis between a control group (18 males) and experimental group (17 males). The control group completed the 6-week training program without the Jumpsole shoe orthotic. The 6-week training program consisted of 45 min to 1 h sessions performed bi-weekly utilizing acceleration activity, skipping, lateral cone hops, bounding, jump rope, and depth (box) jumps. Vertical jump, 40 yard dash time, and calf circumference were measured before and after the 6 weeks of training. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures on one factor and appropriate follow-up repeated measures univariate analyses revealed that the only significant difference occurred between the pre-test and post-test (irrespective of influence of whether the subjects were in the experimental group or the control group) for the dependent variable vertical jump. These results indicate that, although the plyometric training program was effective for enhancing vertical jump, the training program did not improve speed of running or size of calf muscle. Additionally, the use of the frontal shoe orthotic in an attempt to enhance the plyometric training program was not effective.

Physical and performance characteristics of successful high school football players.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the performance and physiologic characteristics of a "successful" American high school football team, and to compare the present values with values reported for other groups of high school, college, and professional players. For descriptive purposes, players were divided into two groups: backs (N = 8) and linemen (N = 10). Maximal aerobic power (VO2max) was determined from a maximal treadmill test, and body composition was evaluated by hydrostatic weighing. Maximal strength values were evaluated by one-repetition maximum bench press and squat test; the sit-and-reach test was used to measure flexibility. Speed and power were evaluated by a vertical jump and a 36.6-meter sprint. Results indicate that compared with other groups of college and professional players, as the level of competition increases so do height, weight, and fat-free weight of the players. Similar maximum oxygen consumption values were found for the present group when compared with other groups of these players. From the strength and power standpoint, football players at all levels are becoming stronger. Incorporation of strength training programs has greatly improved strength and performance profiles of football players at all levels of competition.

Coxsackievirus B2 Infection and Aseptic Meningitis: A Focal Outbreak among Members of a High School Football Team

In an investigation of a school outbreak of enterovirus-like illness and aseptic meningitis, an IgM antibody assay was used to identify persons with evidence of recent coxsackie virus B2 infection. During September and October 1989, 81 (25%) of 319 students and staff reported an enterovirus-like illness; of these, 17 (21%) also had aseptic meningitis. Attack rates for enterovirus-like illness were highest among varsity football team members (53%), and most of this illness occurred between 6 and 15 October. Coxsackie virus B2 was isolated from 2 varsity football players. IgM antibody studies confirmed that coxsackie virus B2 was the cause of the outbreak in the varsity football team and suggested it was not responsible for much of the disease in other students and staff: 63% of football team members were seropositive compared with 12% for other students in grades 6-12. This report illustrates the value of an IgM antibody assay in the investigation of enterovirus outbreaks to distinguish infection from illness.

The Relationship between Perceived Coaching Behaviors and Group Cohesion in High School Football Teams

Based on Carron’s (1982) conceptual system of cohesion and Chelladurai and Carron’s (1978) multidimensional model of sport leadership, this study examined the relationship between perceived coaching behaviors and group cohesion in high school football teams. Players (N=163) assessed their coach’s leadership style and behaviors using the Leadership Scale for Sports (Chelladurai &amp; Saleh, 1980), and the cohesion of their team using the Group Environment Questionnaire (Widmeyer, Brawley, &amp; Carron, 1985). Multivariate multiple regression and canonical analyses revealed a significant relationship between coaching behaviors and group cohesion. Coaches who were perceived as engaging in higher levels of social support, training and instruction, positive feedback, and a democratic style were associated with higher levels of task cohesion within their teams. A series of subanalyses revealed that perceptions of team and individual success, as well as starter/nonstarter playing status, were also related to perceptions of coaching behaviors and/or team cohesion, while offensive and defensive positions were not related to these constructs.

The consumption of our heritage

From the Department of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School. Chicago. Illinois. Requests for reprints should be addressed to David L. Nahrwold, MD, Department of Surgery, 250 East Superior Street, Suite 201, Chicago, Illinois 60611. Presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, San Antonio, Texas, May 15-16, 1990. I am grateful to all of you for the privilege of serving as your President. Many people work hard on behalf of the membership and the entire digestive disease community, including the Board of Trustees and its chairman, the other officers, the members of our committees and their chairmen, and our representatives to other organizations. The many members who have had a continuing commitment to the Society have brought it to maturity. I thank all of you for this. With continued growth in membership, and careful attention to the environment in which the digestive disease community learns and works, the Society will become an increasingly important force in education, research, and patient care. Although the future of our Society is bright, the present outlook for our profession gives rise to serious concern. This is a good time to examine the heritage of our profession, to assess the factors that appear to be influencing it, and to determine what, if anything, we should do to preserve it. For the greater portion of the 20th century, the medical profession enjoyed tremendous success. During the first part of the century, doctors enjoyed respect and prestige in part because they were among the relatively few who had higher degrees. They were viewed in the same light as judges, educators, and the clergy. Physicians were willing and able community servants. Whether as individuals or as members of the local medical society, doctors were eager to provide public health information, develop and conduct community-wide immunization programs, and provide medical coverage for the high school football team, the Boy Scouts, and even the county jail, often without remuneration. Fees varied according to the patient’s ability to pay. Poor families and elderly people who had no income were not charged, nor were teachers or the clergy. Physicians often donated their services to the county welfare department, and in larger cities, they staffed and supervised the care delivered by residents on the ward services of community hospitals. Many specialists donated as much as a day or more each week to the care of patients in our country’s great city and county hospitals. For all these activities, the medical profession received generous praise and the admiration and respect of the community. During the middle of the 20th century, scientific research led to a comprehensive understanding of the natural history of most diseases. Untreatable diseases became treatable by so-called miracle drugs and by procedures generally regarded as spectacular. Antibiotics, tranquilizers, antihypertensives, anticancer drugs, and a host of surgical and other procedures and drugs cured or ameliorated many diseases and conditions, resulting in lives that were both longer and of better quality. The media thrust these advances into the living rooms and kitchens of all Americans. Correctly or not, doctors and scientists were