What’s Hot in Healthcare: NSU has a secret weapon for athletes trying to go pro

Health roundup: A Nova Southeastern University lab uses high-tech equipment and data collection to provide information that can become an athlete's secret weapon to better performance; a new heart clinic in Fort Lauderdale; signs of breast cancer in men; mental health help for teen girls in Broward County.

When Monique Mokha tells a football player to jump on two force plates, she is measuring for the tiniest misalignment in the power he uses to lift off.

For athletes trying to get drafted by a team at this weekend’s NFL Scouting Combine, a slight deviation in hip motion or the way they push off from the ground can affect their chances.

Inside a lab at the Davie campus of Nova Southeastern University, Mokha and her sports science students use high-tech equipment and intense data collection to provide the type of information that can become a secret weapon for better performance.

“We do much more of a technical analysis than someone can get from a naked eye,” said Mokha, who has a doctorate degree in sport biomechanics, the physics of motion.

At NSU’s Exercise and Sport Science Laboratory, a 3D motion capture machine can reveal details like how an injury might be affecting someone’s running speed and a specialized 3D force treadmill measures athletes’ impact forces, push-off forces and landing forces.

That data collection combined with analysis results in an individualized report filled with graphs, charts, spreadsheets and performance weaknesses. It may even include how well or poorly an athlete has recovered their movement patterns after injuries like hamstring strains and knee ligament tears.

Mokha said her lab provides reports to, among others, Bommarito Performance Systems, a performance coaching company whose clients include college football players looking to go pro.

“Every year, we get better technology, better data and better information to customize their training plans and their medical plans,”  said owner Pete Bommarito. “When we know what their deficiencies are, I can customize the speed sessions based on that information. That’s how we are winning the battle of having the fastest players.”

This will be the sixth year that Bommarito uses the lab’s personalized reports to help his football clients up their game. The partnerhip between NSU and Bommarito Performance Systems has helped as many as 100 college football players this year prepare for the 2024 NFL Combine or Pro Day. The players come from a number of colleges across the nation, including the University of Miami, University of Michigan, Ohio State and University of Georgia.

Bommarito said his company tests each client at the NSU lab both at the beginning and end of training camp, so the reports can reveal improvements or ongoing issues.

Last year, Mokha’s team ran tests for an offensive lineman who initially had relatively poor running mechanics. Using the findings, he trained with Bommarito and made changes.

“When he came back for tests, his graphs were incredible,” Mokha said. “He looked more coordinated and efficient in running.” The player was drafted by the NFL in the first round, Mokha said.

Bommarito said sports biomedics isn’t just for athletes.

“If you are going to work out and want to be pain-free, we can accomplish it in the same manner we do for athletes,” he said.

Free mental health help for Broward teen girls

In every corner of America, the youth mental health crisis is real — and worsening.

In Broward County, the Pace Center for Girls is launching a new tool to help: TelePace, a platform for virtual access to therapy.

As part of the service, girls get free teletherapy sessions every week (individual and group) for six to eight months. Those lacking a mobile device or Internet access will be provided with the technology. After getting assessed, each will receive plan goals, case management assistance, life-skills coaching and referrals to additional support services.

The initial phase of TelePace will focus on girls age 11 to 17 in south and west Broward County.

“Expanding access to mental health services is crucial, particularly for girls who may face barriers to traditional care,” said Sara Nunez, executive director of Pace Broward. “Our goal is to ensure transportation and finances don’t become a barrier to providing the essential services that girls need.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the service is much-needed. The federal agency released data in 2023 showing nearly three in five U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 — double the rate for boys — representing a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade. Almost one in three seriously considered suicide, also up about 60% from a decade ago.

“Now more than ever, young people are experiencing mental health concerns, often affecting their ability to learn and grow,” said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who championed the new TelePace program through Community Project Funding Grants.

The Pace Center for Girls opened in 1992 in Broward County. It provides education, counseling, training and advocacy for girls and young women.

Signs of breast cancer in men, what to look for

Leslie Leventhal is an active 55-year-old from Wilton Manors who loves the gym and Zumba and had been a yoga instructor for two decades.

In October 2022, he felt a small bump around his chest area, which he assumed was an ingrown hair. He unsuccessfully tried to pop it. When the bump didn’t go away, he visited his primary care physician, who initially suspected a cyst but recommended a mammogram.

Leventhal began to worry.

A mammogram and eventual biopsy revealed he had breast cancer, much less common in men than women.

Now Leventhal wants to raise awareness about male breast cancer. “If you have a lump, get it checked out. I did by complete accident, and it turned out to be something.”

Because he found the cancer in its early stages, Leventhal says his treatment has been less harsh and his prognosis more promising than for many other men with breast cancer. He learned that often, men get diagnosed at more advanced stages that require a more difficult treatment regimen.

Leventhal met with a team of doctors and came up with a care plan. He has since undergone 12 rounds of chemotherapy plus Herceptin infusions to treat the cancer and six of 14 new rounds chemotherapy to target residual disease.

As ongoing maintenance, he takes Tamoxifen pill, which he must do for 10 years. The side effects already are lessening, he says.

He also underwent a single mastectomy procedure by Broward Health surgical oncologist Dr. Alia Abdulla. Leventhal’s prognosis is good, Abdulla said, because he acted quickly.

“While male breast cancer is rare, he did present in a typical way for a male — a mass near the nipple that is hard and non-tender,” she explained. Other symptoms in men, she said, include nipple pain, a newly inverted nipple, nipple discharge, or a sore area or enlarged lymph node under the arm.

According to the CDC, about one out of every 100 breast cancer case diagnosed in the United States is from a male patient.

“Most men think they can’t get breast cancer, but they can,” Abdulla said. “I usually have at least one male patient a year. Men should not dismiss the signs.”

New heart clinic opens in Fort Lauderdale

Anyone experiencing heart issues has a new option in South Florida.

Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale has opened MD ASAP Rapid Response Cardiac Clinic as an alternative to the emergency department.

The clinic is not geared for someone in cardiac arrest but rather for patients with non-emergency, intermittent heart problems or cardiovascular concerns who don’t want to wait weeks to see a cardiologist. The benefit is the patient can be seen quickly by a professional with cardiac expertise, typically within 24 hours. The clinic on the ground floor of Holy Cross Hospital will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Patients can be screened, evaluated and referred for further testing such as a workup via Echo, stress testing or CT calcium scoring. Some will have follow-ups at the clinic.

“MD ASAP Rapid Response Cardiac Clinic is not designed to become a patient’s primary source of cardiac care,” said Dr. Charles Russo, supervisor of  the clinic said in a written statement. “There are patients who feel that there might be something wrong, but don’t feel it’s urgent enough to go to the emergency department or who maybe don’t have a cardiologist. The clinic fills that void.”

South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com. This is a regular feature on health in South Florida.

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