Risk of brain damage, cardiac arrest due to "pen arrest"

When pursuing the "pen catching" trend, young people will face a series of health risks, even death.

Recently, social networks have seen many videos following the trend of "pen catching" (using hands to press hard on the carotid artery in the neck until there are signs of falling into a state of drowsiness and gradually fading away), making young people interested and curious to do it because of the feeling of euphoria.

Illustration photo.

Nowadays, the trend of “pen catching” is popular among young people on social networks. When playing this game, one person will press hard on both sides of the blood vessels in the neck of another person to seek a feeling of euphoria or ecstasy.

The underlying cause of the “pen-catching” trend is that many people, especially young people, often want to experiment with strong and different feelings to escape the boredom of everyday life.

However, medical experts warn that the feeling of pleasure only lasts for a few seconds but the consequences are extremely dangerous and unpredictable. This trend is life-threatening because blood vessels are very soft, just find the right vein and press lightly with your hand and the blood will stop circulating.

On October 14, the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a warning about a deadly dangerous game among young people, which is "pen catching".

Accordingly, the “pen catching” trend can cause cerebral ischemia. Pressing on the two carotid arteries for a few seconds is not dangerous, but pressing for a long time can cause severe cerebral ischemia.

When the brain is not supplied with enough blood, it can lead to dizziness, fainting or even brain damage. More dangerously, brain cells that are deprived of blood for 5 minutes cannot recover.

This trend can also cause cardiac arrest because the act of “catching a pen” can stimulate certain reflexes in the body, leading to sudden cardiac arrest.

In addition, applying strong pressure to the neck can cause injury to surrounding structures, including nerves and blood vessels and the surrounding soft tissue of the player. In some severe cases, it can even lead to death.

Experts recommend that when participating in trends on social networks, users need to be extremely alert, carefully understand its harmful effects and put the safety of themselves, their families and society first.

Talking about the dangers of the above trend, Associate Professor Nguyen Huy Thang, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Stroke Association and Head of the Department of Cerebrovascular Diseases at People's Hospital 115, stated that there are two main blood vessel systems to supply blood to the brain, including two carotid arteries (anterior circulation) responsible for 70-80% of the brain's needs and the vertebral artery - basilar (posterior circulation) responsible for the remaining 20-30% of blood needs.

The anterior-posterior and lateral vascular systems are interconnected through the circle of Willis (like a traffic circle), to ensure that blood supply to the brain remains stable when one side fails.

In the two carotid arteries in the neck, there are also carotid sinuses that regulate heart rate and blood pressure. Therefore, the action of squeezing both sides of the carotid arteries will cause a serious reduction in cerebral blood flow (because it is responsible for 70 - 80% of the blood flow to the brain). If you let go quickly, it will cause dizziness, fainting, and transient loss of consciousness.

In case of compression for too long, Associate Professor Thang said it can cause ischemic stroke, especially when there is a pre-existing condition of blood vessel stenosis but is not known, or it can also cause brain damage due to reperfusion syndrome.

If the pressure is too strong, it can also damage the carotid artery. Most dangerously, neck compression can irritate the carotid sinus, which can slow the heart rate and cause cardiac arrest.

"This is a dangerous practice that needs to be stopped on social networks. It is absolutely not a game to risk trying to find a feeling," Associate Professor Thang emphasized.

Some other experts also warn that when pressing on the carotid artery suddenly, two things can happen. First, there is a temporary lack of blood supply to the brain, causing dizziness and falling. Second, there is a reflex in the carotid artery (covered by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems), causing sudden cardiac arrest.

Therefore, experts recommend that people absolutely must not perform this action. Even when joking, if accidentally hitting the carotid artery in the neck is very dangerous, it can cause sudden cardiac arrest.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/nguy-co-ton-thuong-nao-ngung-tim-vi-bat-pen-d227429.html