Some time ago I wrote a few blogs about testosterone and how this hormone, despite claims by some uninformed males, often leads to incredibly stupid behavior. Common sense becomes victim of the overpowering urge to strut our male, macho feathers and this results in unfortunate outcomes.

Just one month ago, a very good male friend suffered the consequences of such actions. This is not to say that this unnamed person is not intelligent, athletic and productive. It is just that he left a good part of his brain elsewhere when he fell victim to testosterone.

My friend is a middle aged, very athletic male, who like most men of any age still thinks he is twenty something. He likes to kite surf, which if you have ever tried it, is an extreme sport. The wind is much more powerful than you can imagine and a gust can take a kite surfer several feet into the air or slam him or her into a stationary object: read boat or tree. He had injured his knee a few months prior to the next accident. He twisted the knee kite surfing and was diagnosed with a tear of his cartilage (medial meniscus).

Now, instead of waiting a few more months or perhaps having the knee surgically repaired, he figures that being fit and male he is in a sense indestructible. It is by now early December and where he lives in Tahoe, the big storms come in and with these blizzards arrive the wind. Sure, the temperature is below freezing, the visibility near zero and the waters of Lake Tahoe are churning, but heck why not suit up and go kite surfing? And what’s a minor knee injury when it comes to riding some gnarly waves!

Sure enough, he leaves any semblance of common sense behind at the deserted beach, and begins kite surfing in a full on winter blizzard. Predictably, he falls and lands on his back on some rocks. By some miracle, he is not knocked out, is not paralyzed and has not cut himself. He notices severe chest pain with some shortness of breath, most likely from a rib fracture or two. He gets out of the water and after a few minutes, feels better and, lo and behold, enters the lake yet again to max out his kite surfing experience.

After a second less severe fall, he realizes the folly of his ways and exits the lake for good at least for the day. Yes, he is one lucky dude and yes, he has absolutely no common sense. Some readers will argue that this guy is a certifiable basket case, yet I treat similar cases, perhaps not as severe, on almost a daily basis.

Bottom Line: For my male readers- remember that many of you are far from twenty and even if you are in that age group, you are not superman; gravity and physics rule and finally, listen to your wife/girlfriend who I am sure will warn you about your own stupidity.