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Posts with tag seizure

Dog Calls 911, Saves Owner's Life

We've all seen the "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" commercials and chuckled, but what if you actually did fall and weren't able to get up? What if you couldn't even push a button to call for help? What would you do? That's the situation Scottsdale, Arizona resident Joe Stalnaker found himself in this past weekend, and thankfully someone else -- his dog -- was there to help him .

Joe suffered a head injury during military training ten years ago, and has had crippling seizures ever since. He adopted his dog Buddy at the age of just eight weeks, and trained the now 18-month-old German Shepherd to check on him and to press a button on the phone to dial 911 in case of an emergency. Over the weekend when Joe suffered a seizure that left him unable to move, Buddy made the call. Amazingly, this is the fourth time since Joe has owned him that he's managed this feat.

You can hear a part of the call, and Buddy's whimpering for help, in the above video -- it's enough to make even a jaded blogger misty-eyed. [From: Telegraph.co.uk]

Hackers Post Flashing Animations on Epilepsy Support Forum

Hackers Post Flashing Animations on Epilepsy ForumPeople are just plain cruel sometimes. Take, for instance, a group of hackers who thought it would be freakin' hilarious to break into a support forum for epileptics and post flashing animations all over the page.

The Epilepsy Foundation found out about the attack with in 12 hours and closed down the forums, but not before people, like RyAnne Fultz (pictured), suffered headaches and seizures. Hopefully someone will find out who these people are, and we'd like to volunteer to lead the vigilante mob to their doorstep.

From Engadget

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Are Your Gadgets Making You Sick? (7)

Seizures, Blood Clots and Death


Are Your Gadgets Making You Sick? Seizures, Blood Clots and Death
The condition(s): Here's a medical mystery worth at least one 'House' episode: A 14-year-old British boy is rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment on a blood clot that had developed in his leg. A teenage girl in Iowa is hospitalized after lapsing into a violent seizure. On the other side of the planet, a 28-year-old South Korean man collapses and dies of exhaustion. What vicious and mysterious strain of bird-borne illness is responsible for striking these young people down? Actually, it's video games.

Dominic Patrick, the British boy, spent a rainy day inside playing games. Tucking his legs underneath himself for 10 straight hours caused Deep-Vein Thrombosis, a serious condition that often affects long-haul air travelers who sit in one place for too long.

After five hours behind the controls of a game called 'True Crime: New York City,' Amy Kopaska of Iowa was found by her mom thrashing around, eyes dilated and foaming at the mouth. According to her doctor, long-term exposure to light patterns in the game had triggered Amy's seizure.

The South Korean man, identified only as Lee, spent 50 straight hours playing the game 'Starcraft' in an Internet café, pausing only for toilet breaks and brief naps. Lee had eaten next to nothing in that time, and his death following a collapse was attributed to heart failure caused by extreme exhaustion.

How to prevent or cure it: So, how can video gamers avoid ambulance trips? In all three cases the answer is simply to limit the amount of time you spend gaming, and take plenty of breaks. As we recently reported, the Chinese government is actually writing this bit of advice into law.

Get more info on gaming addiction at Joystiq.

Related Links:
Engadget: Engadget Gets A BlackBerry Massage
Engadget: When Cell Phones Attack...
AOL News: Video Game Addicts Now Have Detox Clinic



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