Gamer dies of blood clot

This was quite sad to hear about. Xbox Gamer Dies of Blood Clot After Marathon Session - FoxNews.com

The father of a 20-year-old “gamer” – who died after playing a marathon session on his Xbox – has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the health risks of playing video games for extended periods of time.

An autopsy revealed that 20-year-old Chris Staniforth from the U.K. was killed by a pulmonary embolism, which is a condition that occurs when one or more arteries in your lungs become blocked.

In most cases this happens when a blood clot travels to your lungs from another part of the body – most commonly the deep veins of your legs. This is called deep vein thrombosis or DVT, according to the Mayo Clinic.


This is a condition that can occur in otherwise healthy people, just like Staniforth.

Risk factors include long periods of bed rest and sitting in a cramped position for an extended period of time. That’s why people are told to get up and walk around and stretch their legs when they’re on long flights.

Professor Brian Colvin – an expert on blood-related conditions – said it’s "unhealthy" for kids to spend long periods in front of their consoles.

"There's anxiety about obesity and children not doing anything other than looking at computer screens," he told The Sun.

Colvin and other medical experts are now urging kids to take regular breaks when they spend hours in front of their video consoles.

Staniforth’s father, David, is hoping this new campaign to warn parents about the dangers of these marathon video-gaming sessions will sink-in after the death of his son.

"Games are fun, and once you've started playing it's hard to stop,” he told the newspaper. “Kids all over the country are playing these games for long periods — they don't realize it could kill them.”

Staniforth, who had no underlying medical conditions, was complaining of a low heart rate before he collapsed. His father said his son would spent up to 12 hours a day playing his Xbox.

This isn’t the first death related to “gaming.” In 2005, a South Korean died after playing online games for three days without taking a break.

Microsoft – the manufacturer of the Xbox – said it "recommend gamers take breaks to exercise as well as make time for other pursuits."

 

thats why aion keeps saying "youve been playing for x hours, take a break" ^^

 

Truly redefined "power gamer".

 

there r competitions every now and then, like the one few years ago where people played for up to 100 hours straight (5 mins break per hour allowed, can accumulate them and get a bit of sleep if you choose). even those had a doctor present. some of the people dropped out coz they just wanted to sleep, 1 was hospitalized and the others agreed to share the win at 100 hours coz they didnt wanna stay up more

 

It's sad especially how most people are risk are office workers who spend most of their day sitting in their office/cubicle. Playing lots of games is fun but people really need to learn self control at some point.

 

drink a lot of water while u play bathroom trips make u move xD

 

Some people take that as a hindrance and use adult diapers or just pee in a bucket or something close by. Yeah people actually do that.

 

sick lol, nobody is THAT busy when playing games xD theres always time to make a break

 

years ago there was another case of some1 who decided to play playstation nonestop until he fainted .. went to the hospital bla bla bla and demanded the game comanpany for it and yeah he got money .. somehow google if curious. personally i too played silkroad game for up to 18 hours per day until i got a lump on my left hand and thigns fell from my hand cuz i couldnt grip so well and its better now but i need to get a surgery of it

 

ouch...still how can u sue a game company for being a moron? its his problem for playing so long lol, not like the company tied him to a chair and forced him to play xD this way u could sue anybody for anything lol

 

im pretty sure every1 asked the same thing and yet he got money, good layer i guess; with enough money u can kill some1 and get away with it.

 

This should be in the 'serious discussions' board XD Btw... my work involves me sitting down the whole day in front of the computer, it seems I will die soon too T___T But nevermind Ima cleric so I can rez myself xP :3

 

still curious how they justified it. i guess common sense is not so common these days and u really need warnings ingame to protect urself as a gaming company. single player games do this on loading screens, aion does it ingame in regular intervals...i dont want games to end up like korean ones lol, check out their system

u get a fixed amount of hours per day, if u ignore the warning, u delevel by 1 lvl, if u ignore it again, ur put back to lvl 1 (permanently) xD way to force people to log off. kinda sux if people play more mmos though

 

I've had a blood clot in my left leg before and its a very serious thing and affects not only the present but also other things in your life. I didnt get one from gaming though - I was working two jobs when it happened and I was on my feet from 6am to 10pm. I found that to be very strange myself.

 

It's like the people who sue McDonalds for getting fat. They usually get out of court settlements because while these big companies can easily hire the best lawyers and roflstomp these people, it would take a lot more time, effort, and most importantly money, then it would be to just give them a little bit now just so they can get the jerks to leave them alone. Welcome to America. Though apparently this trend is spreading.

 

EH?! How do you get a clot when standing o_o And what happened after that? Did you see a doctor? How do you know there was a clot?

 

I honestly hate the people who blatantly direct hatred against particular things such as gaming in this article.

Do not get me wrong though, thrombus formation makes me deeply sad... and it doesnt matter where it goes... stroke tends to be what we focus on... but get that stuck in any artery and you are in for more than just a world of hurt...


But strokes have many many predisposing factors:

-Genetic variability
-Food. <--- now this is one we don't take seriously enough. Fast food, oily foods, and many other kinds of pre-prepared "cheap" food are packed with 'naughty' things that can contribute to thrombus formation.
-High (or very low) blood pressure.
-Alcohol is another large factor.
-Stress (Peer pressure, anxiety, etc?)


Message of the story being:

Obviously the father should have taken care of his... obviously loose-cannon son and stopped being an enabler for his abuse of gaming.

-Abuse of alcohol
-Abuse of food, and perhaps his dinner menu.
-Not getting a full physical beforehand.

among many other things.


Because for every person who does suffer from one of these accidents, there are about 100 more individuals that do it and pull it off.

So if he wants to keep petitioning and scapegoating something, that is fine, but to spout nonsense is innane and silly.


Plus... one does not develop thrombis-embolism from a single exposure to such a 'stressful' event, it usually requires those many predisposing factors I listed above and a fair while to form and get loose.

Obviously lifestyle plays a big role in this, not so much the scapegoat of his choosing.


Also call me silly but when even fox (drama llama moron) news has their reference being some

"This isn’t the first death related to “gaming.” In 2005, a South Korean died after playing online games for three days without taking a break.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/...od-clot-after-marathon-session/#ixzz1TqXQiRc5

...


I am left to be cynical. 6 year old news being brought up? Obviously not enough homework done on their part.... or this is a lovely scapegoat.

 

I've always taken breaks while playing or just sitting here for extended periods of time. Bloodclots or not, my joints tend to get rather stiff otherwise and hurts like a bish after getting up after longer session. And my back really don't like long times of sitting badly (I've been through several courses on how to sit properly on office chair and everything, but me being a fool, I don't follow the instructions).

Personal record of sitting still and playing has been 18 hours, but even then, atleast towards the end of it, I kept walking around more and more. Namely, getting up to make coffee and then running to the bathroom thanks to the said coffee.

Bloodclots have costed my family already my uncle and I'm well aware of the facts of it. While I may not have the healthiest diets, I still keep away from the worst things. I don't smoke, I rarely drink and even then small amounts. I get up atleast once an hour to get glass of water or just walk around a little.

Really doesn't take more than that.

But as Aegis said, gaming is only one part of the news. Some1 watching a long movie marathon might've ended up the same. Some1 watching a full anime series from start could've ended up the same. And Asthar got a clot from standing long periods of time. In the end, sitting in cramped position is only one factor.

 

oh man ,reading that actually made me think about my health issue , not that i dont think of it , but meh x.x
games can really screw up ur health , felt it on my own when i had to call the ambulance to come get me cuz my heart was going nuts from getting angry while playing lol (not only >.<)

 

He should've been an idiot to die that way. Because obviously he knew the risks and he should've taken some breaks... if he didn't then he's not worthy to be talked about here, by us.