Computer Game Player Gets Blood Clot In Leg

Thanks to BBC News for its article discussing a UK teenager who developed a blood clot in his leg after playing videogames in one position for too long. The piece explains: "Dominic Patrick, 14, from Merseyside, developed deep vein thrombosis after a rainy day inside with a games console... The potentially dangerous condition was caused because Dominic had his legs tucked under his body." A doctor interviewed suggested this was a relatively rare case, however: "The only risk factor we could find in this case was the fact that Dominic had sat on his legs for 10 hours playing computer games without moving... [however, it] doesn't mean that the government should be putting health warnings on PlayStations."

What game?

[redune45]

What I want to know is what game was it that kept him so hooked, and where can I get a copy?

Re:evolution

[CptChipJew]

I read of an Everquest player that had his kids taken away because he was neglecting them to the point of starvation.

A guy in Korea has an annuerism because he played Counterstrike for something like 72 hours straight.

These people DO exist, though I've yet to meet one.

The big question remains unanswered

[lightspawn]

Which game?

Re:evolution

[et289807]

That's because they're dead!

bias

[Anonymous Coward]

This is just biased reporting. You never read anything about the kid that missed the bus because he was playing video games before school, only to find out later the bus exploded when it crashed into a truckload of dynamite, or something.

Or that kid that is saved the humiliation of asking that one cheerleader out to prom because him and his buddies are planning a Halo Party that saturday.

Leave it to the media to only report on the bad things.

Re:The big question remains unanswered

[BTWR]

Which game?

Ironically, it was Dance Dance Revolution.

Re:evolution

[dickiedoodles]

How can you sit in one place for 10 hours?

Slashdot Addiction (I really want that first post)

I wish...

[benlinkknilneb]

I wish I had his attention span... but unfortunately I can't even finish a

Warnings on Playstations?

[Jim Hall]

"The only risk factor we could find in this case was the fact that Dominic had sat on his legs for 10 hours playing computer games without moving... [however, it] doesn't mean that the government should be putting health warnings on PlayStations."

No, we should be putting them on XBoxes, which is what he was playing at the time (as suggested by the XBox photo attached to the article.) So now we know the truth: Microsoft products are a health problem.

Sitting competitions

[FePe]

I think this boy should attend a sitting competition. The world record is 167 days of sitting - on a small platform without a Playstation or similar entertainment devices.

My god...

[Anonymous Coward]

My first reaction, which I'm not terribly proud of, was:

"Ha ha! What a loser!"

The Lesson

[Flwyd]

Whenever your character jumps, you should also jump. And here's a tip: if you want to make a really sharp left turn, jerk the controller to the left. It helps.

I usually start to ache after playing games too

[Corfitz]

I don't have to play computer games for more than 15 minutes before my head and neck starts to hurt. It usually starts right after my wife tries to slap my headphone off while screaming "ARE YOU SITTING THERE AGAIN! HOW COME YOU CAN FIND THE TIME TO ..." (I usually stop listening around this point).

Should I see a doctor?

That's Nuttin!

[mugnyte]

Blood clot!? Pshaw! Walk it off soldier.

You shoulda seen our palms after trying to complete the Activision Decathalon on the Atari 2600. Bloddy mess! Or the sore thumbs from combo-attacks in the early fight games. Like two yams, I tell you!

I got over my ADD by having to wait for the tape to play the game into the C64. DungeonSomething took like 30 minutes. I treated that tape like the chalice in the Vatican. It slowly cranked while I shook like a drugged monkey watching it, screaming.

I learned the subtle differences in repetative images by playing Pitfall! I could time scorpion steps in my sleep.

When feeling lethargic, I put in Activision's Warlord. More epileptic-seizure-inducing flashes that a night at the Oscars. I think I'm still twitching.

And we had NO pause buttons, wimps!

Sheesh, kids got it so easy these days.

Re:This guy deserves a darwin award

[keot]

to receive a darwin award you need to remove yourself from the genepool. this boy with the iron bladder still lives.

Re:evolution

[bigman2003]

Okay- sad stupid story..

You mentioned 'security guards'. I was in the Army, and I was supposedly guarding something stupid (like a nuclear missle, or something like that). Well, I was sitting in a chair that was low, and deep (you see them on every Army base). Eventually, I figured that the Russkies wouldn't attack that day, and I fell asleep.

A few hours (?) later, someone came to check on the security detail (me) and he walked up, and saw I was asleep. He started yelling at me- totally pissed off. I woke up, saw that it was a Major, and tried to snap to attention.

Because I had been sleeping in the chair so long, and the type of chair cut off circulation to my legs, my muscles wouldn't work at all. I fell to the ground, and I couldn't stand up. I literally had to lay there while this guy started yelling and screaming at me, telling me I wasn't doing my job, etc. (It's pretty obvious to me, while I am laying down with useless legs...)

After about 2 minutes of him screaming at me to get up, salute, stand at attention, etc. he finally figured out I had a real problem. So he called our medics, and they came to get me on a stretcher. Eventually they took me to the hospital for a checkup.

Of course I had to go along with this now, and I told them that the last thing I remember was walking on my rounds, and I must have passed out or something. They kept me in the hospital for a day. I felt like a real jackass, but telling them that I was sleeping there so long that my legs became useless just wasn't a good option.

Bad parenting

[Metal_Demon]

It's a shame that parents aren't teaching their kids proper gaming techniques.

I dunno

[Pluvius]

I think this guy's pretty effectively removed himself from the gene pool already.

Rob

Re:evolution

[Cipster]

Thank goodness for smoking breaks. It's great for my cardiovascular system! Oh wait....Nevermind.

Wheeee

[WTFmonkey]

Q) How many kids with ADD does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A) Wanna go ride bikes?

Re:Bad parenting

[BTWR]

Diagnosis? Bad Babysitting!

Re:Health warnings...

[Absurd Monkey]

I say we just cut to the chase and start labeling absolutely everything with sweeping generalizations, like:

"You could die."

Banana: "You could die."
Bicycle: "You could die."
Bible: "You could die."

Possible variations might include:

Botox: "You should die."
Bawls: "You will die, much sooner."