Whenever I see the obligitory dumping of the Gatorade barrel of icewater over the head of the football coach I wince, thinking that one of these days, one of these guys is just going to collapse on the spot from a heart attack. As shocking as it must feel to have that done to you, isn’t it also a substantial shock to the cardiovascual system? Doesn’t it cause all the surface vessels to pretty much slam shut? Couldn’t that stress the hydraulics of the system? It seems to be a pretty intense matter, particularly for the more elderly coaches. Or are we a lot more hardy than I assume?
I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will come along with a better response, but I can tell you this: as part of our anatomy class, we watched a series of videos. Some showed things like real autopsies (we were in 12th grade so we couldn’t make it a field trip) and forensic technique. One video showed a person, I’d guess he was in his 50s, going from a sauna, to the outdoors, then jumping in an ice cold lake that was barely above freezing. Then there was an enactment - at least I assume, since it doesn’t seem to be the type of thing you could get people to volunteer for *and * film on demand- of what happened next. Which was an aneurism in his brain busting violently. Suposedly guy-in-video died almost immediately.
So apparently subjecting yourself to huge temperature difference can hurt your body given the right circumstances within your body. I suspect, however, the differences between sauna and less than 40F water is a more significant change than between ice water/Gatorade and the outdoors temperature during a game.
Yes.
Incidentally, it’s shock (in the technical sense), not a coronary - this is usually used to refer to one specific type of circulatory failure, Coronary Thrombosis.
I was thinking this same thing when Gatorade was dumped on ***69 year old ***Dick Vermiel during the Chief’s game. Talk about tempting fate.
The biggest risk is from immersion in a body of cold water. This causes reflexive constriction of peripheral arteries and arterioles, but may also extend the constriction further inward, as far as the coronary arteries. Usually they don’t constrict as much as the peripheral arteries do, but if the coronary artery is already tight, even a 10% constriction can make the difference between adequate blood flow and ischemia.
Dousing someone with cold water would be a lesser risk, IMHO.
QtM, who had an “unusual” sensation in his chest, with palpitations, when jumping into 50 degree water, a week prior to his MI.
suggesting a cause and effect relationship here, or just an unsettling coincidence?
I considered it an early warning that went unrecognized. Denial runs strong in my family!
I saw that happen to a fellow who fell out of his canoe into spring run-off. Bill Mason and Tim Buck tried CPR, but to no avail. I did the walk out for the body recovery.