CDC issues first-ever death count from 'choking game'

[flashl]

Source: Orlando Sentinel

ATLANTA -- At least 82 youths have died from the so-called "choking game," according to the first government count of fatalities from the tragic fad.

In the game, children use dog leashes, bungee cords wrapped around their necks or other means to temporarily cut blood flow to their head. The goal is a dreamlike, floating-in-space feeling when blood rushes back into the brain.

As many as 20 percent of teens and preteens play the game, sometimes in groups, according to some estimates based on a few local studies. But nearly all the deaths were youths who played alone, according to the count complied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

...

The report is being published this week in a CDC publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Orlando Sentinel

Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/orl-bk-choking02142008,0,6373217.story

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This is a dangerous male teen fad.

[flashl]

1. Warning for parents ...

CDC officials urged parents to be aware the fad exists, and to watch for possible warning signs like bloodshot eyes, marks on the neck, frequent and severe headaches, disorientation after spending time alone, and ropes, scarves or belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs or found knotted on the floor.

The authors acknowledged that 82 is probably an undercount. They could not rely on death certificates, which do not differentiate choking-game deaths from other unintentional strangulation deaths. Instead, they relied mainly on a news database that is large but doesn't include all media outlets.

It's likely that there are about 100 U.S. choking game deaths each year, said Dr. Tom Andrew, New Hampshire's chief medical examiner, who has been studying the phenomenon for several years.

Andrew said many coroners and medical examiners likely label the deaths as suicides because they don't have the time or resources to interview a victim's friends and look for alternate explanations.

[Jed Dilligan]

2. Someone should introduce them to drugs. nt

[frog92969]

5. Most would be safer.

[Jed Dilligan]

7. Honestly, I don't think there is a single illegal drug

that is more likely to kill you than strangulation.

[truthisfreedom]

8. They're skipping the drug high and going directly to brain cell destruction!

Wow, just when I thought I'd heard of everything.

Choking has long been part of autoerotic asphyxiation, but this is something I'd never heard of.

[CookCountyResident]

9. And why is that the answer?

Should kids not be mentored to find other more productive ways of keeping themselves amused and out of trouble?

[XemaSab]

11. I think you may have missed the unspoken

:sarcasm:

People here can be pretty sarcastic sometimes.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[mcscajun]

3. Not a fad...not limited to males. Warning signs...

"...possible warning signs like bloodshot eyes, marks on the neck, frequent and severe headaches, disorientation after spending time alone, and ropes, scarves or belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs or found knotted on the floor."

http://www.wellercenter.org/images/Home/Choking_Game.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choking_game

[flashl]

4. Thanks for the info. nt

[frog92969]

6. K&R

People need to know this.

[WatchWhatISay]

10. I remember my friends and I doing this as preteens back in the '60's

Seems insane now, but we really thought it was harmless fun then.