How food endangers swimmers
Monday July 25th, 2011
The traditional advice not to go swimming after a meal seems to hold water, researchers have revealed.
There
has been little scientific evidence to support the advice - but a new
study links food in the stomach to cases of drowning.
Japanese researchers say that undigested food is closely linked to cases of accidental drowning.
The findings, reported in the journal Medicine, Science and the Law, come from an analysis of some 536 autopsies performed over seven years.
The researchers say that deaths from accidental drowning - 34 of them - were more closely linked to undigested food than any other cause of death. Stomach contents were found in 79 per cent of these cases.
The research has not shown how the presence of food in the stomach gets swimmers into trouble. But theories suggest it may cause loss of consciousness because of competing pressures on the circulation - or possibly lead to vomiting and chocking.
Journal editor Professor Peter Vanezis said: "The study highlights what we have always suspected and seen on a case by case basis."
Tags: Asia | Diet & Food | Fitness | Traveller Health | UK News
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