Heat Strokes

For decades, football players have battled the oppressive and sometimes dangerous heat of summer with cold drinks, cool towels and giant misting machines. Now a hand-held device dubbed "the glove" offers athletes a new way to lower body temperature. The risk of heatstroke or exhaustion is high in football, particularly during pre-season workouts notorious for their intensity and duration.

The last hours in the lives of NFL all-pro Korey Stringer and high school junior bench warmer Travis Stowers are sadly similar. Stringer collapsed on a brutally hot and humid Midwestern afternoon during football practice July 31. Stringer felt tingling in his limbs. He staggered off a football field, had his knees buckle and was shoved into a cold shower. Stringer had his body packed in ice. Emergency technicians rushed him to a hospital where his body temperature was recorded as 108 degrees.

Ephedrine and creatine use among football players may be a factor in a surge of heatstroke deaths in the sport since 1995, according to an editorial published in a medical journal today. The article appears in the journal "Neurosurgery" and contends dietary supplements designed to enhance performance may have a significant impact on the body's ability to remain properly hydrated during stressful exercise in hot weather. It is co-authored by Dr.

Ignoring the symptoms of exposure to excessive heat can be a costly mistake. The combination of blistering heat and oppressive humidity can leave people wilting from heat exhaustion and the more severe, and sometimes even fatal, heatstroke. As the mercury rises, so do heat-related illnesses. In one of the worst instances, nearly 1,300 people died in the summer of 1981 when a heat wave gripped most of the nation for several weeks.

Actor Martin Lawrence was in serious but stable condition and breathing without a ventilator Tuesday as he continued his recovery from a coma triggered by a weight-loss jog in summer heat. Lawrence, who had been near death after suffering heat exhaustion and hyperthermia on Aug. 22, was "alert and responding to commands," according to a statement from his publicist, Kim Jones. "He's doing great," she said Tuesday. His prognosis was changed from guarded to good.

Editor's note: Lonnie White, a staff writer and former USC receiver, can appreciate the rigors of an NFL training camp. Here are his recollections from the summer 10 years ago spent in the New Orleans Saints' camp. * I never met Korey Stringer, but I felt as if I knew him when it was released that he died of heatstroke Wednesday, one day after collapsing at practice during training camp with the Minnesota Vikings.

Modern football players might be more susceptible to dehydration because they are in better shape, two former NFL coaches said. Arizona Coach John Mackovic and USC Coach Pete Carroll, with decades of professional experience between them, spoke about the potential dangers of training camp at the Pacific 10 Conference's annual media day Wednesday at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel. "It's so different today," said Mackovic, who coached the Kansas City Chiefs in the mid-1980s.

Minnesota Viking officials met for two hours Wednesday with state investigators looking into the heatstroke death of tackle Korey Stringer. "We walked through our entire setup, top to bottom," said Viking Vice President Mike Kelly, who, along with the team trainer and equipment manager, met with investigators from the state's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The breeze is sweet on this cloudy morning, bursts of cool air off the Pacific. When the puffs of wind arrive, a dozen, maybe two dozen San Diego Charger football players turn their faces west, toward the ocean, toward that blowing air. At this time of year, in training camp, the Chargers are the envy of everyone in the NFL. Training camp is less than a mile from the ocean, at UC San Diego.