{"id":2200,"date":"2011-09-22T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2011-09-22T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theathleteslawyer.com\/?p=2200"},"modified":"2011-09-22T06:00:56","modified_gmt":"2011-09-22T14:00:56","slug":"swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday we looked at the possible causes for the deaths of swimmers in Triathlon and other open water competition. Pre-existing cardiac conditions may be one plausible theory. One such pre-existing condition could be “Long QT syndrome.” This is an “inherited defect in heart rhythm that predisposes to syncope<\/a> without warning (sudden fainting spells), dizziness, palpitations, seizures and sudden death. The name of the syndrome comes from the QT segment in the tracing on the electrocardiogram (ECG). This segment lasts slightly longer in the syndrome than normal. The heart takes longer to recharge itself between beats. Certain conditions can trigger an abnormal cardiac rhythm. Among the known triggers are intense physical exercise, swimming, being suddenly startled or badly frightened.<\/p>\n

So, with swimming being a potential “trigger” and caffeine known to cause irregular heart beats (or “ectopic foci”), I looked for deaths associated with energy drink consumption and sport. According to the Sport Journal<\/a>, when these are reported, they seem to be isolated cases involving multiple servings with high levels of caffeine. For example, according to Rice University<\/a> over 15 years ago, one study looked at the whether caffeine intake increased the risk of heart disease. Over 45,000 people were evaluated and the data indicated a slightly increased risk of death from heart disease in individuals who had an average daily consumption of more than 5 cups of *decaffeinated* coffee.<\/p>\n

As a trial lawyer who must present evidence with sufficient reliability to pass muster in court, the question becomes, “How can we know for sure if the combination of intense swimming, changing suddenly from a vertical position to a horizontal one, sudden increase in stress and anxiety, coupled with significant caffeine intake will lead to a cardio-pulmonary event or syncope ?” While testing on a swimming ergometer (VASA or similar equipment) with a sufficiently large number of subjects and placebos such as would yield statistically significant results, the fact that actual competition can occur in very cold or hot water and the athletes do not always get “air” every time they breath. The added stress of ingesting water during intense aquatic competition could be another piece of the puzzle. Certainly further study is warranted, and all athletes should have regular physical exams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday we looked at the possible causes for the deaths of swimmers in Triathlon and other open water competition. Pre-existing cardiac conditions may be one plausible theory. One such pre-existing condition could be “Long QT syndrome.” This is an “inherited defect in heart rhythm that predisposes to syncope without warning (sudden fainting spells), dizziness, palpitations,…<\/p>\n

Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[101,340,411,780,1232,1275,1693,1694,1770,1840,2477,2631,3028,3165,3470,4774,4775,4792,4813,4996,4998,4999,5246,5247,5251,5252,5262,5388,5402,5798],"class_list":["post-2200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cases","tag-abrams-landau","tag-athlete-regular-physical-exam","tag-back-injury","tag-bicycle-crash","tag-caffeine-risk-of-heart-disease","tag-cardio-pulmonary-athletic-event","tag-death-during-swimming","tag-death-in-swimming-competition","tag-disabled-athletes","tag-doug-landau","tag-heart-rhythm-syncope","tag-herndon-reston-area-law-firm","tag-intense-aquatic-competition","tag-landau-law-shop","tag-medical-causation","tag-sport-energy-drink-consumption","tag-sport-journal","tag-sports-death","tag-sports-injury","tag-swimmer-fran-crippen","tag-swimming-caffeine-death","tag-swimming-death-in-triathlon","tag-triathlon-safety","tag-triathlon-swimming-death","tag-triathlon-trial-lawyer","tag-triathlon-trial-lawyer-doug-landau","tag-triathlontriallawyer","tag-usat-ceo-rob-urbach","tag-usat-sanctioned-race","tag-wrongful-death"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n- Sports Injury Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"- Sports Injury Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday we looked at the possible causes for the deaths of swimmers in Triathlon and other open water competition. Pre-existing cardiac conditions may be one plausible theory. One such pre-existing condition could be “Long QT syndrome.” This is an “inherited defect in heart rhythm that predisposes to syncope without warning (sudden fainting spells), dizziness, palpitations,…Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports Injury Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-22T14:00:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"athleteslawyer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"athleteslawyer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/\",\"name\":\"- Sports Injury Law\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-22T14:00:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#\/schema\/person\/7e6501a10869231cfa762daf2e8ecd03\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/\",\"name\":\"Sports Injury Law\",\"description\":\"Our Agenda is Clear...Justice for All\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#\/schema\/person\/7e6501a10869231cfa762daf2e8ecd03\",\"name\":\"athleteslawyer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/774fe87d3163f2603d3e8eeca49d41ace6981e1a791816f92239a0f2fe12136a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/774fe87d3163f2603d3e8eeca49d41ace6981e1a791816f92239a0f2fe12136a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"athleteslawyer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/author\/athleteslawyer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"- Sports Injury Law","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"- Sports Injury Law","og_description":"Yesterday we looked at the possible causes for the deaths of swimmers in Triathlon and other open water competition. Pre-existing cardiac conditions may be one plausible theory. One such pre-existing condition could be “Long QT syndrome.” This is an “inherited defect in heart rhythm that predisposes to syncope without warning (sudden fainting spells), dizziness, palpitations,…Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/","og_site_name":"Sports Injury Law","article_published_time":"2011-09-22T14:00:56+00:00","author":"athleteslawyer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"athleteslawyer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/","url":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/","name":"- Sports Injury Law","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-09-22T14:00:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#\/schema\/person\/7e6501a10869231cfa762daf2e8ecd03"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/2011\/09\/22\/swimming-deaths-in-triathlon-possible-causes-continued\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#website","url":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/","name":"Sports Injury Law","description":"Our Agenda is Clear...Justice for All","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#\/schema\/person\/7e6501a10869231cfa762daf2e8ecd03","name":"athleteslawyer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/774fe87d3163f2603d3e8eeca49d41ace6981e1a791816f92239a0f2fe12136a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/774fe87d3163f2603d3e8eeca49d41ace6981e1a791816f92239a0f2fe12136a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"athleteslawyer"},"url":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/author\/athleteslawyer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landauinjurylaw.com\/theathleteslawyer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}