Since I can't, of course, tell you directly or indirectly who I see in my office (sorry, but, I can't tell you if I see Bono and the guys or not...), I can use stories to help in my cause of public education. I recently saw a patient in my office who was the bike rider involved in a bike vs. van accident and it was a helmet, without a doubt, that played a serious role in the outcome of the contest. The bike rider had to brake suddenly to avoid a van that was coming directly at her. She quickly ended up on the ground when she lost control of the bike and was then struck in the head by the van's front bumper. The helmet she was wearing was destroyed, but, luckily, her head and brain were not. I have little doubt that she will have a very good recovery from her injuries, and have only superficial scars left for show. She is a very lucky woman who is grateful that she has her memories right now. If you don't wear a helmet when you ride a bicycle, you are making a very risky gamble. Please encourage everyone you know who rides a bicycle to wear a properly fitted helmet. It can make all the difference in the world.
3 comments:
Bike helmets don't seem to work - laws have stopped a lot of people cycling and have done nothing for head injury rates, see Robinson DL. No clear evidence from countries that have enforced the wearing of helmets. BMJ 2006;332: 722-5. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/332/7543/722-a. It appears that helmets break easily, but don't absorb the impact, see the engineers quoted at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet. A broken helmet has simply failed. Helmets have also strangled some young children who were wearing helmets while playing off their bicycles. At my moderately advanced age it's far too dangerous not to cycle - regular cycling, Danish style, not too far, not too fast, nearly halves the death rate, see http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/160/11/1621 All-Cause Mortality Associated With Physical Activity During Leisure Time, Work, Sports, and Cycling to Work. Andersen et al, Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:1621-1628. Ride carefully, but ride!
Thank you for your comments, I agree that it is a topic that can be debated. As a clinician, however, I will continue to recommend to my patients/clients/friends who ride bicycles to wear helmets.
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