
Race After Race, Teenager Crosses Finish Line, Then Collapses - wlmsng
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/sports/race-after-race-teenager-crosses-finish-line-then-collapses.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0
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plg
"I can't breathe!"

"Am I getting a medal?"

Well done, American society, well done parents.

Edit: I realize this is a snarky comment but this was my initial reading of
the article. Sure she is brave. I guess? This just seems rather extreme. It's
sure not the kind of values I would want to see in my kids. You know,
breathing, and staying conscious, and not depriving one's brain or body of
oxygen, these are sort of important things, especially throughout development.

~~~
emiliobumachar
My wife has NCS, and a titanium pin in her skull from her worst fall. First,
her doctor does clear her for exercise as well, the benefits outweight the
risks. Second, there is no cure. It gets better with age, over decades. If
you're going to restrain yourself because you're sick, well, it's forever. I
can certainly understand those who choose to live with the restrictions for
increased safety. But I bet you can also understand, if maybe not agree with,
those who choose to face the risks rather than the restrictions.

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brandonmenc
The exercise and the passing out won't kill her, but you can die (or worse)
when your head hits the ground.

If I had this condition I'd consider switching to exercises where I'm seated,
or in a padded gym. Does your wife take that into consideration when choosing
how to exercise? Genuinely interested.

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ggreer
While those with NCS worry more about it, head injuries from falling are a
concern of everyone. At almost every cross-country or track meet I've been to,
at least one runner has collapsed from exhaustion or lack of oxygen to the
brain. Some are more prone to it than others, but it's a risk that
participants are aware of and accept. Races rarely happen on asphalt or
cement, so falls (by themselves) aren't as dangerous as you might think. It
also helps that, even while losing consciousness, runners tend to stick their
arms out and cushion their fall.

For most distance runners, their biggest worry is getting trampled. Racing
shoes have metal spikes on the bottom.[1] Like fainting, some are more prone
to getting trampled than others (typically smaller runners). I've fallen at
the start of a race and had my ribs cracked and skin perforated. It's
certainly not fun, but it's a risk everyone accepts.

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_spikes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_spikes)

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revelation
Endurance sports like running will lead (even in healthy individuals) to very
very mild cases of _orthostatic intolerance_.

If you go from sitting to standing, you might get lightheaded for a few
seconds as the body is too slow to react. More here:
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2343225/pdf/tjp0...](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2343225/pdf/tjp0551-0401.pdf)

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rhaps0dy
Do you mean that this condition is caused by endurance sports?

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revelation
Oh no, I just wanted to mention other more common faults of our poorly
parameterized blood pressure PID controller.

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kirsebaer
> The worst instance, her father said, occurred last fall, when she fell a
> quarter of a mile from the finish of the state cross-country final and was
> out for 40 minutes.

What?? This does not sound healthy, especially as there is more and more
attention on the long-term adverse effects of traumatic brain injury
(concussion). But I guess good for her that she is staying active despite this
condition.

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douche
Trying to compete in athletics when you have serious medical issues is not
easy... I was so goddamned stubborn that I played basketball through my
chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin's Disease in HS.

I was starting games at less than 50% of my baseline red blood cell count when
I was 16. I could only play about four or six minutes at a stretch before I
would have to come out, completely exhausted. That, and pissing bright-red
urine in the locker room on those days when I had to get my treatments in the
mornings and play a game in the evening were lots of fun. Oh, also seeing the
towel come away covered in hair as I mopped up the sweat after playing a
shift.

More power to this gal if she can strive through her issues and succeed.

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M8
_" Physical activity, he said, pools blood in the lower half of the body,
reducing blood flow to the heart. In response, the heart pumps more
vigorously. In people with NCS, the brain misreads that as high blood pressure
and tries to lower the pressure, which leads to decreased blood flow to the
brain and, thus, fainting."_

I like how it sounds like an engineering flaw. Hopefully one day our software
will not be bound to randomly generated aging hardware.

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Gatsky
This is a very odd story. When other runners finish the race, they stop and
have a drink. When she finishes she is carried like a resurrected messiah by
her entourage who then fawn over her while she wakes up. People are
complicated... I would be wondering if there was an element of secondary gain
and abnormal psychology in this behaviour. That she wants to study medicine to
cure NCS is another read flag for abnormal illness behaviour.

I also wouldn't clear her to run if she collapses every time - I mean if she
falls and dies from a freak head injury, and she had fallen the same way in
the last 50 races, how can the doctor defend themselves? It's just common
sense. She should at least wear a crash helmet.

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kolev
I can't believe people think that the benefits of running outweigh the risks.
First, the benefits of extreme running are questionable. Moderate exercise is
fine (if done right), but extremes are never healthy. In this case, and, in
general, fainting is not something that doesn't carry negative effects. When
you accumulate so many incidents, I'm sure many millions of brain cells will
die. Boxing does the same, but doctors still give clearance and that's why one
should question the ethics of these doctors as nothing that has an
accumulating harm should be okayed by them.

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zachgersh
The even crazier runner is the one with MS who continues to run and is now one
of the best distance runners in the country. She also collapses at the finish
line. There was an ESPN short video piece about her last year:

[http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11909407](http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11909407)

The NYT wrote an article as well and it is linked in the above article but I
thought I would call it out here:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/sports/for-runner-with-
ms-...](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/sports/for-runner-with-ms-no-pain-
while-racing-no-feeling-at-the-finish.html)

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psgbg
Yeah I remember the video. I think it was shared here inclusive.

It's incredible how amazing is the people. Even with their fragility, their
own limitations and problems and yet they can do amazing things.

