Giant coasters cause brain damage.
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I came across this today and I thought some of you might find it interesting. It turns out that some people think big coasters cause brain damage. Here is the (long) address.
http://syndication.thehealthnetwork.com/inhealth/NewsBasicDisplay.asp?docid=5412
(URL simplified... -J)
*** This post was edited by Jeff on 1/11/00. ***
http://syndication.thehealthnetwork.com/inhealth/NewsBasicDisplay.asp?docid=5412
(URL simplified... -J)
*** This post was edited by Jeff on 1/11/00. ***
I saw this on the news last night. Apparently the study was of only one person who had some blood vessels in the brain damaged after riding, "one of the tallest and fastest coasters" (quoted from person who did the study). If you ask me, a study of just one person is not really a study that is worth all the publicity this got, and I think all the news people are jumping on this just to carry over coaster-bashing from last summer.
Chris DeFouw
cwdefouw@netwalk.com
Chris DeFouw
cwdefouw@netwalk.com
That is simply nuts, I really hope that people don't fall for this false propaganda. Combined Jeff and I have ridden Magnum well over 1000 times this season and I'm fine, and I don't see Jeff complaning about any problems. I also don't see Jo or Raptor Dave complaining from the number of times that they have ridden raptor. This is just a an isolated problem that just happened to make world wide attention.
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Daniel J. Haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
Is it May yet?
www.popworld.com/dan
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Daniel J. Haverlock
'99 Magnum Count: 801
Is it May yet?
www.popworld.com/dan
I think I saw that one coming...
One case hardly makes a study. That was poor reporting. You notice that they said people prone to the condition can also trigger the problem with a hard sneeze or cough.
After 42 laps on Magnum in a day, which is not the smoothest coaster, I can report nothing but a little windburn and good memories. But as for Dan... ;)
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
One case hardly makes a study. That was poor reporting. You notice that they said people prone to the condition can also trigger the problem with a hard sneeze or cough.
After 42 laps on Magnum in a day, which is not the smoothest coaster, I can report nothing but a little windburn and good memories. But as for Dan... ;)
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
I don't get mad very often but this really raises my ire... *steps up on the soapbox*
Maybe the roller coasters were responsible for her condition - maybe not. It's all speculative research, and it seems there were lots of circumstances leading up to the clots in her brain.
What really pisses me off is that this is the kind of medical BS that Dan Blather, Tom Brokejaw, and the other media moguls will report as fact and the masses will say - "Gee, I better be more careful!" even though they only heard a 10 second sound bite on the evening news. All of a sudden, what's only research now becomes fact, even though there's little or no evidence to support it, and now we need government sponsored studies, etc etc etc
When I was in the Marines, we had sooooo many instances of BS (as any good veteran will tell you), and it's easy to see the military mentality slowly seeping into the culture of today. In a nutshell, military mentality is "you're too stupid to do anything, so I'll tell you what to do".
I don't want to enter into a political debate on this, but look what's happening with smoking, guns, and soon to be fatty foods. Is smoking bad? Hell yes - I smoked for nine years, but I made a CHOICE to quit (and did). Are guns dangerous? Of course, but I make the CHOICE to be cautious and not to shoot anyone. Is a double Whopper with cheese bad for your health? Probably, but I don't care - it tastes good and I have a CHOICE.
Bottom line: Roller coaster manufacturers are not deliberately gathering and saying, "Okay - we need blood clots and broken bones on this one." They are providing a means of escaping the tedium of day to day life and doing one fantastic job. I hope (and don't think it will) evolve to the "roller coasters are bad for you." I don't want to live forever - I want to raise my family, have some fun, and go to McDonalds.
Want I don't want is to be a mindless automoton saying "this is b??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ? ??????? ?????????? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??????? ? ??????? ???????? ? ?????????????? ????? ??????? ???? ?? ????? ????? ????????????????????? ??????? ??????????????????????? ?? ???????????????????? ??? ??????????????????????????? ????? ? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ???? ? ? ???? ??? ?? ????????????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ? ???
Maybe the roller coasters were responsible for her condition - maybe not. It's all speculative research, and it seems there were lots of circumstances leading up to the clots in her brain.
What really pisses me off is that this is the kind of medical BS that Dan Blather, Tom Brokejaw, and the other media moguls will report as fact and the masses will say - "Gee, I better be more careful!" even though they only heard a 10 second sound bite on the evening news. All of a sudden, what's only research now becomes fact, even though there's little or no evidence to support it, and now we need government sponsored studies, etc etc etc
When I was in the Marines, we had sooooo many instances of BS (as any good veteran will tell you), and it's easy to see the military mentality slowly seeping into the culture of today. In a nutshell, military mentality is "you're too stupid to do anything, so I'll tell you what to do".
I don't want to enter into a political debate on this, but look what's happening with smoking, guns, and soon to be fatty foods. Is smoking bad? Hell yes - I smoked for nine years, but I made a CHOICE to quit (and did). Are guns dangerous? Of course, but I make the CHOICE to be cautious and not to shoot anyone. Is a double Whopper with cheese bad for your health? Probably, but I don't care - it tastes good and I have a CHOICE.
Bottom line: Roller coaster manufacturers are not deliberately gathering and saying, "Okay - we need blood clots and broken bones on this one." They are providing a means of escaping the tedium of day to day life and doing one fantastic job. I hope (and don't think it will) evolve to the "roller coasters are bad for you." I don't want to live forever - I want to raise my family, have some fun, and go to McDonalds.
Want I don't want is to be a mindless automoton saying "this is b??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ? ??????? ?????????? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ??? ?????? ??????? ? ??????? ???????? ? ?????????????? ????? ??????? ???? ?? ????? ????? ????????????????????? ??????? ??????????????????????? ?? ???????????????????? ??? ??????????????????????????? ????? ? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ???? ? ? ???? ??? ?? ????????????? ??? ???? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ? ???
And there you have it!
As far as television news goes, ABC is the only news I can still watch, as Peter Jennings is too high on himself and his journalistic integrity (in this case, a good thing) to allow that kind of nonsense to go on. Print journalism is sorely lacking overall, though Time does and OK job. As far as radio goes, forget it.
Just remember that dissing the "media" is a little infair, because it's just too broad of a term.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
As far as television news goes, ABC is the only news I can still watch, as Peter Jennings is too high on himself and his journalistic integrity (in this case, a good thing) to allow that kind of nonsense to go on. Print journalism is sorely lacking overall, though Time does and OK job. As far as radio goes, forget it.
Just remember that dissing the "media" is a little infair, because it's just too broad of a term.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
I agree with DBCahill. Let's keep Dan & Jeff away from the researchers! (Ha) Seriously, I firmly believe with Mango Madness, sooner or later everything we do,like,enjoy, etc. will be found too cause cancer, blood clots or some other ailment. Sooner or later we all have to go, until then, I'M RIDIN' WHO'S WITH ME?
Time for someone in the health profession to chime in. As a researcher for 15 years dealing with neurological and psychological studies, I find that the justifications of this woman's condition being directly related to a ride on the rollercoaster to be outright absurd.
Now, this woman most likely had some underlying, or even an undetected condition (though this article does not support a predisposing factor), that after going through the motions of a rollercoaster ride, may have aggrevated blood flow in to her brain, that ultimately triggered the subdural hematomas. These motions are no different then say, a vigorous work-out at the gym, completing a 10k marathon, or even a night of binge drinking.
Similar events could also happen to people with heart conditions. The body becomes excited due to an uncommon event, such as being dropped 259 feet at speeds of up to 82 mph (as described in the article), thus causing an unusual heart rhythm, and general excitablity (some coaster nuts may refer to this as their "ultimate rush" and experience a brief state of euphoria (I usually get this feeling after a spin on Raptor) this "rush" is a result of a higher than normal blood flow (typically to the brain)) Combine this increased blood flow with that underlying condition (i.e., a blood clot or a clogged artery,) and you have the classic scenario of a potentially dangerous medical condition.
But it is not justified to say that her condition was directly caused by her ride on the rollercoaster (unless, of course she hit her head on restraint bars, or a piece of the coaster fell on her head - such is not the case,) it was merely an attribution to her condition. Why do you think all major rollercoasters have signs posted, warning those with medical conditions not to ride?
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Neil
By popular vote, the official start of the
millennium has been moved to
May 13, 2000
Now, this woman most likely had some underlying, or even an undetected condition (though this article does not support a predisposing factor), that after going through the motions of a rollercoaster ride, may have aggrevated blood flow in to her brain, that ultimately triggered the subdural hematomas. These motions are no different then say, a vigorous work-out at the gym, completing a 10k marathon, or even a night of binge drinking.
Similar events could also happen to people with heart conditions. The body becomes excited due to an uncommon event, such as being dropped 259 feet at speeds of up to 82 mph (as described in the article), thus causing an unusual heart rhythm, and general excitablity (some coaster nuts may refer to this as their "ultimate rush" and experience a brief state of euphoria (I usually get this feeling after a spin on Raptor) this "rush" is a result of a higher than normal blood flow (typically to the brain)) Combine this increased blood flow with that underlying condition (i.e., a blood clot or a clogged artery,) and you have the classic scenario of a potentially dangerous medical condition.
But it is not justified to say that her condition was directly caused by her ride on the rollercoaster (unless, of course she hit her head on restraint bars, or a piece of the coaster fell on her head - such is not the case,) it was merely an attribution to her condition. Why do you think all major rollercoasters have signs posted, warning those with medical conditions not to ride?
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Neil
By popular vote, the official start of the
millennium has been moved to
May 13, 2000
Just came across this article. At least it has some balance. Views from both sides.
http://www.healthscout.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Af.woa?ap=43&id=89500
By the way Jeff, thanks for fixing the first post. I knew damn well why the original URL was so long but it didn't occur to me to fix it. I think my brain is bleeding but I don't know why. *** This post was edited by Tim on 1/11/00. ***
http://www.healthscout.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Af.woa?ap=43&id=89500
By the way Jeff, thanks for fixing the first post. I knew damn well why the original URL was so long but it didn't occur to me to fix it. I think my brain is bleeding but I don't know why. *** This post was edited by Tim on 1/11/00. ***
Word on rec.roller-coaster said NBC did a story that was sensationalistic (what a shocker). I know what you meant, Mango, and I didn't take it personally. What I was really getting at is that even in the news media, there are good sources out there, they're just lost among the crap.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
Hmmm...A couple of points...
First of all, it is worth noting that the size of the coaster does not matter, even according to the comments in the articles. They don't say it directly, but the point is that it is the forces which are suspect. The thing is, the forces are about the same whether the coaster is big or small. The limits the designers are working with are about the same...on the order of -0.5G-+4.0G vertical and +/-4G lateral. It doesn't matter whether the ride is 40' or 400', the forces exerted on the riders should be comparable. That is, of course, the dirty little secret of roller coaster engineering.
Second, the article did note that the injury is consistent with "a blow to the head," because the injury was near the surface, while raw-force trauma is more likely to cause injuries in the middle of the brain. The first article also noted that there was no direct head trauma. But I wonder...Does Fujiyama have headrests? Shoulder bars? Did this rider lean forward and rest her head on the grab rail? Any of those factors could possibly cause a mild blow to the head which would be consistent with the nature of the person's injuries. That would suggest that it is more important than ever to insure that your head remains clear of the seat-back on both Blue- and Mean Streak. :)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
First of all, it is worth noting that the size of the coaster does not matter, even according to the comments in the articles. They don't say it directly, but the point is that it is the forces which are suspect. The thing is, the forces are about the same whether the coaster is big or small. The limits the designers are working with are about the same...on the order of -0.5G-+4.0G vertical and +/-4G lateral. It doesn't matter whether the ride is 40' or 400', the forces exerted on the riders should be comparable. That is, of course, the dirty little secret of roller coaster engineering.
Second, the article did note that the injury is consistent with "a blow to the head," because the injury was near the surface, while raw-force trauma is more likely to cause injuries in the middle of the brain. The first article also noted that there was no direct head trauma. But I wonder...Does Fujiyama have headrests? Shoulder bars? Did this rider lean forward and rest her head on the grab rail? Any of those factors could possibly cause a mild blow to the head which would be consistent with the nature of the person's injuries. That would suggest that it is more important than ever to insure that your head remains clear of the seat-back on both Blue- and Mean Streak. :)
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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