(April 10, 2008 - Insidermedicine) From Columbus - A new study confirms that gymnastics has a similar catastrophic injury rate as ice hockey, soccer, or basketball with a rate of 1 in 200 per year. In an analysis of 15 years of data, researchers estimate gymnastics causes over 26,000 injuries per year in the US. While most were sprains, 13% were head and neck injuries.

From Louisiana - While the blood thinning agent heparin is made from pig intestines, the blood of another animal may also lead to a compound with medicinal value. Lab tests show that proteins from alligator blood may be effective against pathogens that have become resistant to traditional antibiotics such as MRSA and certain strains of the fungus Candida. Human testing is still some time away.

And finally from Sweden - Having diabetes in middle age raises the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease 3 decades later. In a study that followed over 2,300 men, those with high insulin resistance were 30% more likely to develop Alzheimer's. In those without the APOE 4 allele, which has been linked to the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, the effect was even more pronounced.

For Insidermedicine in 60, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.