Does sports medicine help professional baseball players lose less time to injuries?

Not necessarily. A study looked at injuries in Major League Baseball. Researchers thought there would be fewer injuries among baseball players in recent years, since sports medicine and training have gotten more advanced.

The opposite was true. Between 1989 and 1999, baseball players' injuries actually increased 40 percent. And the missed days these injuries required went up 53 percent.

These results were, of course, disappointing. But sports medicine itself may not be to blame. Lots of other changes have happened in Major League Baseball. For example, players' careers now go on longer. And players are more likely to return to sport more quickly after a major injury. These things may make some players more prone to injury.

It's possible that sports medicine has managed to reduce some kinds of injuries while others have been on the rise. Clearly more research is needed in this area.