Sudden death linked to arrest
2008-09-03 09:45
Munich - Young men who die suddenly
after being arrested by the police may be victims of a new
syndrome similar to one that kills some wild animals when they
are captured, Spanish researchers said on Tuesday.
Manuel Martinez Selles of Madrid's Hospital Gregorio
Maranon reached the conclusion after investigating 60 cases of
sudden unexplained deaths in Spain following police detention.
In one third of the cases, death occurred at the point of
arrest, while in the remainder death was within 24 hours,
Selles told the annual meeting of the European Society of
Cardiology.
All but one of the casualties were male and their average
age was just 33 years, with no previous history of
cardiovascular disease.
"Something unusual is going on," Sells said.
Just why they died remains a mystery but he believes young
men, in particular, may experience surges in blood levels of
chemicals known as catecholamines when under severe stress.
Adrenaline is one of the most abundant catecholamines.
"We know that when a wild animal is captured, sometimes the
animal dies suddenly," he said.
"Probably when these young males are captured it is very
stressful and their level of catecholamines goes very high and
that can finish their life by ventricular fibrillation (cardiac
arrest)."
Selles compiled his study - the first of its kind in any
country - by scouring Spanish newspapers for cases of
unexplained death after police detention over the past 10
years.
Only sudden deaths with no clear causes were included and
autopsy reports were checked to exclude the possibility of
mistreatment or past serious medical conditions.
Twelve of the victims were drug users but Selles said this
was not thought to have contributed to their deaths.
Jonathan Halperin of the Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New
York, who was not involved in the research, said the concept of
a heart stress syndrome triggered by a flood of adrenaline or
other chemicals was "a reasonable hypothesis".
"We all know stress is bad for you and this may be stress
in the extreme," he said.