RJA #2b: Research Topic

Research Topic: Athletes and Heat Strokes

For the research paper this semester, I decided on a topic that I could relate to first-hand, but also that I still am not very educated about. That topic is heat strokes concerning athletes; and more specifically lies with the question: Should football programs for all ages be required to monitor the health conditions of the players with technological devices? To elaborate, these devices would be used to look at body fluid levels, heart rate, blood pressure, and circulation to ensure that the player will not only be hydrated and fit to play but also safe, healthy, and alive. As extreme as this sounds, it has become a true debate and a real topic of concern amongst many players, parents, and coaches across the country. The controversy struck recently when a high school player collapsed and later died of a heat stroke during practice. This was also not the first football fatality due to a stroke. In fact, it happened at the NFL level just a few years ago. So it just goes to show that even the most premeire athletes could be in danger.
Although I never played football in my life, I can relate to heat strokes first hand from playing soccer for 15 years, starting when I was about 4. I personally experienced overwhelming exertional migraines from over-exercise under the sun without enough water. On a handful of occasions, I even experienced heat strokes severe enough for me to go to the hospital. Although I was not in grave danger, the experience was still very frightening and the feeling was worse than any virus I've had in my life. That said, I was experiencing these heat stroke problems playing the sport of soccer, not football. In football, you are exercising almost as hard, except you are wearing pounds of padding that's not only weighing you down but also holding in body heat. On hot days this can cause a player to over-heat in no time. I can only imagine how much worse it could have been for me had I been wearing padding like that. So I feel for these players, and I would like to indulge into the topic to gain as much knowledge as I can.
As far as what I would like to learn about the topic, there is a wide range of things. First, I want to learn the chemical process of what actually causes heat strokes and exertional migranes to occur. This would give me a better understand of the functions and uses of certain treatments and what exactly to do to either prevent, avoid, or treat strokes. Also, I would like to know statistics on stroke death, as well as the right numbers and levels of certain elements or substances that cause the body to be balanced or unbalanced. Perhaps the one thing that I would like to learn the most about this topic is what side of the argument I should be on, based on my research and the information I find.