Ducks D Schneider out at least four weeks with broken bone in left ankle

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — New Ducks defenceman Mathieu Schneider will be out at least four weeks after breaking a bone in the left ankle during his first pre-season game with the Stanley Cup champions.

An MRI taken Sunday revealed that Schneider sustained a non-displaced fracture of the ankle Saturday night in Anaheim's 3-2 victory over Los Angeles. According to coach Randy Carlyle, Schneider was injured in a corner when the defenceman turned around and twisted his ankle while trying to close in on a Kings player.

"It was very harmless looking, but obviously we got the worst-case scenario as far as what transpired," Carlyle said. "It's obviously something we didn't expect to happen, but injuries are part of the game and now somebody else will get more of an opportunity.

"This is the hand we're dealt, and we'll deal with it. Kent Huskins, Joe DiPenta, Shane Hnidy and Maxim Kondratiev are going to be expected to fill a larger role and play to another level. We feel they can make a contribution, so we'll see how it plays out."

The 38-year-old Schneider, beginning his 20th NHL season, signed a two-year, US$11.25-million deal with Anaheim. The Ducks brought him aboard this summer as insurance in case captain Scott Niedermayer decides to retire. The team isn't pressuring Niedermayer for a decision, but did suspend him last Tuesday when he didn't report for training camp.

Schneider had 11 goals and 41 assists in 68 games with Detroit last season, his fourth with the Red Wings. He broke his wrist in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against San Jose on May 5 and missed the rest of the post-season.

On the first day of camp with the Ducks, Schneider limped off the ice after a wrist shot by Hnidy hit him in the same ankle.

"It's just something you have to deal with," teammate Sean O'Donnell said after Sunday's 2-1 shootout loss to Phoenix. "I'm just glad it happened now, as opposed to February, March or April. Hopefully this will be the last time something like that happens to him."

Source: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jyMDL4llzyqJ-Mjkxmgg0cGdKwNg

Bone Drug Prevents Deaths, Broken Bones

ATLANTA (AP) — For the first time, an osteoporosis drug has reduced deaths and prevented new fractures in elderly patients with broken hips, according to new research.

Some experts called the drop in deaths "striking" but said other drugs could have a similar effect.

In the study, there were 28 percent fewer deaths and 35 percent fewer fractures in the group that got a once-a-year infusion of the bone drug Reclast compared to those who got a dummy treatment.

No other osteoporosis drug study published in at least 15 years has shown such a pronounced reduction in deaths, said Dr. Kenneth Lyles of Duke University Medical Center, the lead author.

The study was released online Monday by The New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with a presentation at a medical conference in Hawaii. It will be published in a later edition of the journal.

The research was funded by Novartis, which makes Reclast, and Lyles has two patent applications for the use of the drug. Under the name Zometa, the drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cancer patients in 2002. It was approved for post-menopausal osteoporosis last month, under the name Reclast.

More than 300,000 hip fractures occur in the United States each year. Often they trigger a downward spiral — roughly one in five elderly victims die within a year of breaking their hip.

Generally, doctors tell hip-fracture patients to take Fosamax and other bisphosphonates, a class of osteoporosis drugs that stops bone breakdown. But many patients do not take the pills because they cause heartburn and other symptoms. They also are a hassle for elderly patients: You must take it on an empty stomach in the morning, and wait a half hour before eating.

For the study, researchers recruited about 2,000 patients from 23 countries who were not taking oral bisphosphonates. Their average age was 74 and most were women. All had previously broken a hip.

Half of the participants received Reclast, which is a bisphosphonate given in an infusion.

Over the next two years, 139 of the patients in the placebo group had new broken bones, or about 14 percent. Just 92 of the treated patients had second fractures, or about 9 percent.

More surprising, 141 died in the placebo group, or about 13 percent, compared to 101 in the treatment group, about 10 percent.

The cause of death was never determined for many, including more than half of those who died in the Reclast group.

"There's no question that we had a death benefit. We can't tell you why we had a death benefit," Lyles said.

Some study participants were taking hormones or other drug therapies, but such cases were balanced between the two groups and did not explain the benefit, he said.

The researchers gave vitamin D, which helps strengthen bones, to all study participants to address harmful deficiencies in some patients. But they said the study benefits were over and above the benefit of the added vitamin D.

It's not likely the Reclast study will be repeated. Scientists say the value of bisphosphonates has now been clearly proven, and it would be unethical to do another study in which the drug is withheld from some participants.

"The reduction in fracture incidence and death was striking and clearly establishes the need for pharmacologic interventions in patients who fracture a hip," wrote Karim Anton Calis and Frank Pucino, two pharmacy experts, in an editorial accompanying the study.

The study should cause more physicians to prescribe Reclast or other bisphosphonates to hip-fracture patients, said Dr. Roberto Pacifici, an Emory University osteoporosis expert

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gvhmv6tr5sEfYWbJE1BF9MRVuajA

When the Injury Bug Swats You

The news out of Portland last week wasn't good. Greg Oden, the first overall pick in this year's draft, would need microfracture surgery on his knee and he would miss his entire rookie season. The injury to the franchise player will almost certainly cost his franchise any chance of success.

Steve Nash checks on Joe Johnson after his nasty fall in the playoffs.

Suns fans everywhere, hearing the news, first felt deep sympathy for Oden and the Blazers, because we’ve been there before (more specifically, Amare Stoudemire has been there before). Second, Suns fans wished Portland was still in our division, so we’d have some easy wins this year.

Source: http://suns.marqui.com/blog/suns01_09180701.aspx

Redick has broken bone in hand, expected for training camp

Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick has a broken bone in his right hand, according to the Orlando Sentinel, but the team expects the former Duke star to be ready when it opens training camp Sept. 29.

"We're not sure when it happened," Magic general manager Otis Smith said Friday, according to the newspaper. "It could have happened when he was working out, playing pick-up or when he was playing with USA Basketball.

"I don't expect J.J. to miss any time at all. I'd be surprised if he's not ready for camp."

Smith said Redick, who averaged six points in 42 games as a rookie last season, did not require surgery.

The college All-American's short pro career has been plagued by injury. Last summer, Redick had to deal with a back injury that hampered his preparation for the season as well as a minor tissue tear on the bottom of his left foot.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3021340