Sports and Exercise Medicine
Physical activity is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle, and has been proved to prevent or modify certain disease processes, like, Diabetes, Cardiovascular diseases, Osteoporosis, Hyperlipidaemia and certain types of cancer; and also to enhance the quality of life for people of all ages.
Sports and Exercise Medicine is a newly-emerging medical specialty. Some people may associate it exclusively with elite athletes. This is not so. Sports Medicine practitioners typically see three groups of patients: elite or competitive athletes; non-competitive, physically active individuals; and those with existing illness or injury who might derive therapeutic benefits from exercise.
One of the objectives of Sports & Exercise Medicine is to make physical exercise safe and enjoyable for the patient. The Sports Medicine physician is able to give advice on any sports or exercise-related problem, which would include acute or chronic musculoskeletal injuries, exercise prescription, rehabilitation, nutrition, pre-exercise fitness assessments, prevention of injuries, and providing medical care for large numbers of athletes and spectators.
Sports & Exercise Medicine practitioners work very closely with other health care workers like physiotherapists, podologists, psychologists and nutritionists, to ensure that the patients is treated in a holistic manner. The goal is to treat and rehabilitate the patient and get him back to exercising as soon as possible.