Bush's Choking Episode Shows Chewing Is Important
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) has learned the hard way that his mother was right -- you should not stuff dry pretzels down your gullet and you should pay attention when eating, an expert said on Monday.
Doctors said there were several possible medical explanations for the incident on Sunday in which Bush apparently passed out after a pretzel went down the wrong way.
``My mother always said when you're eating pretzels, chew before you swallow,'' Bush told reporters on Monday.
Dr. William Ravich, who directs the swallowing center at Johns Hopkins University medical school in Baltimore, said choking can cause a person to faint, an occurrence known as vasovagal syncope.
Pain, such as that caused by a cramp or choking, sends a signal to the vagus nerve, which in turns signals the heart, slowing it down so much that the person faints.
``It refers to a neurologically mediated fainting episode that is usually brought on by stress or pain,'' Ravich said in a telephone interview.
``It is something like when a person sees blood, he or she faints from the sight of blood,'' Ravich said. ``It is a stress-related response. ... If somebody felt he couldn't breathe, stress could cause you to lose consciousness. It would essentially lower blood pressure.''
If Bush coughed and coughed to get rid of the pretzel, he could also have fainted from that, Ravich said.
Simply having one's trachea blocked by food can also cause a faint, Ravich said.
There were no witnesses, but Ravich said Bush would likely have turned blue before he fainted.
``It is the type of thing the Heimlich maneuver is performed for,'' he said.
The Heimlich maneuver is a carefully placed push that can help dislodge an object from a choking person's throat.
While choking is embarrassing, it is not unusual, Ravich said.
``It can occur if a person is distracted,'' he said, perhaps while shouting at a television screen during a sporting event. ''Maybe presidents are more distracted than others,'' he added.
``Most people at one time or another can recall feeling that something went down the wrong pipe.''
Choking can also be caused by a number of disorders, especially if the many muscles involved in swallowing do not work together.
So was grandma right when she advised chewing 30 times before swallowing?
``Who would possibly count?'' Ravich asked. ``You swallow 600 times a day. Those are old wives tales. But you do want to chew your food and when people get in trouble is when they are not paying attention to chewing.''
Bush's doctor checked him out after the incident and said he was fine, aside from a scrape on his cheek and a cut lip. |
