Why did Hilary Clinton and Mike Krzyzewski collapse last week?
Odd, don’t you think, that Senator Hilary Clinton, about to give a speech in Buffalo last Monday, and then Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski this past Saturday in Durham, N.C., without any apparent warning, each fell to the floor? I thought so. What caused these events? It’s called vasovagal syncope in the medical world, a vasovagal episode or attack in lay parlance. It occurs when a complex reflex arc is triggered by anxiety or a sudden change in body position, usually from supine or sitting to standing. The body’s autonomic (automatic, or not under conscious control) nervous system overreacts to impulses traveling along the vagus nerve to the brain. This exaggerated response leads to a drop in blood pressure and often a slowed heart rate. When blood pressure drops, less blood flows to the brain, leading to fainting. The two causes – neurogenic and positional – are different, but the final common pathway is the same, namely, people faint/pass out/lose consciousness. In some cases,
