Roller Coasters and Blood Clots

According to a study in the January 11, 2000 issue of Neurology, riding roller coasters may actually increase the risk of developing potentially harmful blood clots on the surface of the brain. The blood clots compress the brain and lead to permanent brain damage.

Riding roller coasters may increase the risk of developing potentially harmful blood clots on the brain's surface, according to a case study in the January 11 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. These blood clots can compress the brain and may lead to permanent brain damage, seizures or in some cases death.

"Although it is rare for people to develop subdural hematomas, after riding several roller coasters, it can happen," said neurologist and study author Toshio Fukitake, MD of Chiba University School of Medicine in Japan. "We suspect that many cases have been overlooked."

According to Fukutake, subdural hematomas are extremely rare in young women, but the prominent case in the study involved a healthy 24-year-old Japanese woman who developed blood clots on the surface of her brain after riding several roller coasters during a day at a Japanese amusement park. While at the park she rode the Fujiyama, one of the highest and fastest roller coasters in the world.

"The woman's subdural hematomas and resulting headaches may have been caused by the up-and-down, back-and-forth motions of the roller coaster or the acceleration force may have been strong enough to rupture veins on the surface of her brain," said Fukutake. Three other cases of people developing subdural heamtomas after riding roller coasters were recently reported, according to researchers.

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