Man Dies After Sneezing

[ProfessorF]

Man died after sneeze, inquest told
Friday, October 23, 2009, 09:26
A SNEEZE led to the death of a South Devon pensioner, an inquest has heard.

South Devon coroner's officer Ric Parsons said after the hearing that in 24 years, this was the first case of 'death by sneezing' he had come across, adding: "It was just a very unfortunate and sad end to his life."

The inquest at HM Coroner's Office in Palk Street, Torquay, heard 79-year-old retired design engineer John Oram was seen by staff at his care home Teignbridge House, Torquay Road, Shaldon to sneeze violently two days before he died on July 18.

His son Mark, 50, attended the hearing and said afterwards his father was 'sorely missed' and that it was a surprise that something as 'innocuous as a sneeze' could have caused his father's demise.

He added: "It does seem to be an unusual demise from sneezing, but his medical history of having heart conditions for 30 years necessitated him being on medication and I guess as you get older everything gets weaker and more susceptible to being damaged."

The inquest heard Mark say his father had never mentioned banging his head, but he had fractured his hip in a fall from his scooter in April but had recovered well and was walking about with the aid of just one walking stick.

Mr Oram had a heart condition and suffered from diabetes and was taking Warfarin, a drug which thins the blood, explained Mr Parsons.

In a statement read out at the inquest, care home owner Michael Burnham said: "On July 16 he was seen to have had a very violent sneeze. It was violent enough for it to be noticeable and for two members of staff to notice it.

"I can only imagine the sneeze combined with Warfarin could have been the cause of his death."

Dr John Bridger who performed the post mortem examination on Mr Oram said no 'underlying trauma' was found, no skull fracture was found, but the trauma could have been of 'a minor degree'.

HM Coroner for Torbay and South Devon Ian Arrow said the cause of death was subdural hematoma, or trauma to the brain, and coronary artery disease.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Arrow said: "I know he had no apparent head injury which might have been consistent with a fall. However, I note John was on Warfarin.

"The presence of Warfarin means the body is more susceptible to bleeding which means it could have been a minor trauma which led to his death.

"He would have suffered a minor trauma and on the balance of probability it was likely it was the sneeze which led to his death."

Source

 

[OneWingedBird]

It's a good job he wasn't tasered, then it would have been an underlying condition that killed him...

 

[Mal_Adjusted]

Woman broke her back just by sneezing

Woman broke her back just by sneezing
Mother-of-three Victoria Kenny is back on her feet thanks to pioneering surgery

By JO STEELE - Thursday, October 29, 2009

A mother of three is back on her feet after breaking her back in a freak sneezing accident.

Victoria Kenny ruptured a disc in her spine with the force of her sneeze, leaving her nearly paralysed for a year and in constant pain.

It meant she had to quit her job as a solicitor and was house-bound. She had to be spoon-fed and became so depressed she even considered ending her life.

But now, two years later, she is back to full health, thanks to pioneering surgery by a private company called SpineWorks which involved being fitted with a metal cage on her spine.

Incredibly, Mrs Kenny, of Chichester in West Sussex, was walking within a week of the operation and has been able to return to work with the help of physiotherapy.

'I couldn't believe I had been like that for two years and then suddenly it was all over,' said the 52-year-old.

'Now I don't take anything for granted. I make the most of every day, and try to spend more time with my family and friends.

'I'm still terrified of sneezing, though – I sit down and pinch my nose every time I feel one coming.'

She has now set up a conveyancing company and will run a half-marathon to raise money for spinal injuries.

Mrs Kenny's accident happened in April 2007 when she was watching TV. She remembers feeling a tingling in her nose before sneezing and feeling a pain shoot down her back. She was then unable to move her limbs. Sneezing causes core muscles to contract, putting pressure on the spine, doctors say.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.htm ... page_id=34

 

[ramonmercado]

Next someone will blow their brains out.

 

[escargot]

A few years ago I pulled my back at work and had to go home.

As I hobbled towards my car, a colleague chatted pleasantly to me about her friend who'd leaned forward over a sink as she sneezed and jarred her neck.

The injury finished her nursing career there and then and put her more or less permanently in a neck brace. :shock:

Gee, thanks, I thought...

 

[KitjaNutsd]

Semi-related ?

Lauren Johnson is a typical 12-year-old girl whose life is constantly punctuated by interruptions that are anything but normal.

Whether at her Virginia home, with her family or getting ready for bed, Lauren sneezes up to 16 times per minute, a condition that has has stumped her parents and doctors.

"It's frustrating a lot," Lauren told "Good Morning America" today, sneezing four times before getting that sentence out.

Lauren's prolonged sneezing fit began about two weeks ago, when she was recovering from a cold.

She can't go to school, and sleep is her only escape, though even that is hard to come by.

"It's pretty hard," she said. "I have to kind of be physically exhausted before I can, because I just sneeze and sneeze until I eventually can hold off for a couple of seconds before I can go to sleep."

Her mother Lynn Johnson has taken her to countless doctors and a hypnotherapist, but no one has been able to help. An ear, nose and throat specialist has found nothing wrong with her, and Lauren is also seeing a therapist to determine whether there is some sort of psychological reason for the sneezing.

"Their heart goes out to her," Johnson said. "They really want to help her. I just don't think anybody knows how."

Allergist Dr. Clifford Bassett said he believes Lauren has a condition called machine-gun sneezing.

"People who have sneezing where it looks like they are blowing a trumpet or violin or machine gun, basically a pattern of sneezing, repetitive sneezing, annoying sneezing," he said.

Bassett said the condition is extremely rare but can be triggered by hundreds of causes, including allergies, sinus problems or growths in the nasal passage.

Johnson said the hardest part of her Lauren's ordeal is not knowing how to comfort her.

"I can't tell my daughter it's going to get better, in a week or in a month or in a year," she said. "Because everybody else who has experienced anything like that it didn't happen."

Unusual as Lauren's condition is, she's not the first person to suffer from incessant sneezing.

Two years ago, "Good Morning America" reported on Brooke Owens, who sneezed constantly. Since then, she has had bouts of sneezing that can last up to six weeks, putting her in immense pain.

"It feel like sharp needles or knives going through my hands and my toes," she said. "If somebody even touches me, I scream."

And there's also an emotional toll. Owens said she, too, was forced out of school because her sneezing was considered disruptive.

"They just crushed my dreams because I wanted to go to be a registered nurse," she said. "It takes a big toll on my life, on what I wanted to do, but I try to take it day by day."

That's a plan Lauren said she is also following. She studies at home and has made several modifications to accommodate her sneezing, right down to the way she eats.

"I kind of take smaller bites and chew for one or two seconds before I sneeze," she said.

All her mother can do is watch.

"It's helpless to know when you're looking at your daughter and you're reminded 12 to 16 times a minute that there is something wrong with her, that people know very little about it and no matter what you do, you can't help her," she said.

Source

 

[Bigphoot2]

Not fatal but nasty

Doctors' warning after man tears hole in throat trying to stop sneeze
Published
23 hours ago

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X-ray of the patients neck
IMAGE SOURCE,BMJ
Image caption,
Hospital scans revealed a 2mm perforation in his windpipe.
Doctors have issued a warning after a man tore a hole in his throat while trying to stop a sneeze.

The patient in his 30s was taken to Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, in severe pain after he pinched his nose and closed his mouth to stifle the sneeze.

Scans revealed he had suffered a 2mm tear in his windpipe.

University of Dundee medics said if both mouth and nose are closed during a sneeze, the pressure in the upper airways can increase by about 20 times.

This can also lead to injuries including ruptured eardrums, aneurysms and even broken ribs.

The case is documented in the medical journal BMJ Case Reports.

When doctors examined the patient they heard a cracking sound after touching his neck and found he did not have control of movement.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-67714469

 

[escargot]

Not fatal but nasty

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-67714469

I've heard of this before but with a different injury. Popped eardrums or summat.
Our current unfortunate's injury is not recent. It happened long enough ago to have been diagnosed, treated and gleefully written up for the BMJ.

The BMJ is an rich source of gruesome medical anecdotes. Doctors LOVE to share their more bizarre cases.
I spent many happy hours in university libraries searching the Journal for serious criminological/psychological articles but being sucked into accounts of the harm we humans do to ourselves.

Some of the cases are mentioned on'ere, such as the process of pearling and the inadvertent self-asphyxiation by vacuum cleaner.
To which I say,

Search at your peril.