Any doctors on here? Mo Farah passed out at NYC Half - what could cause that? Or should I assume something sinister?

He ran all out, meaning all blood was in his lungs and muscles, and not enough was in his brain. Typical with a true exertion.

They say a cooldown is to slow how quickly your heart rate drops after a workout. How sinister that Mo wouldn't go right into his cooldown after an all-out effort!

I've had high school and college teammates pass out at the end of an XC race. its not that unusual, 17 min 5k guys do it all the time in high school

Might have had a bit of a shock reaction too after his spill. That always gets the adrenaline going.

Honestly, it could be anything.

There is no real point in speculating seeing as he was exerting himself in a highly competitive race, so all traditional bets are off.

From an ED standpoint, you would start to work him up as a syncopal episode which are generally either neurological (stroke, brain tumor, etc) or cardiovascular (dehydration, vasovagal, heart attack, PE, etc). The "differential diagnosis" is too broad to really make any significant speculations. Could it be hypercoagulability due to too high a Hct from doping? sure. Could it be a mini-stoke or MI from a stimulant or excess thyroid? sure. Could it be dehydration or hypoglycemia? just as likely.

duckfail wrote:

He ran all out, meaning all blood was in his lungs and muscles, and not enough was in his brain. Typical with a true exertion.

Blood flow to the brain remains constant. If he passed out it would be because the blood going to his brain didn't have enough oxygen in it.

yes I am a doctor and a marathoner. It is very very worrisome that Mo passed out (medical term is syncope), but not due to any relation to PEDs. The concern is for heart problems. Specifically abnormal rhythms or abnormal heart muscle growth called cardiomyopathy. Either can be suddenly fatal and are the usual causes of sudden death in athletes (you can look up Ryan Shay). Of course other common causes are pooling of blood in the legs after exertion or dehydration, but it was a cold day and I don't see too many elite athletes faint after a race. Their bodies are usually adapted to that situation.

His passing out was likely due to loss of consciousness.

I don't know, do you think maybe he went into orthostatic hypertension? After all the movement then suddenly stops to answer questions to the media? Just a guess.

Farah is not a HS runner.

Vasovagal and/or some over-breathing on his return to sea level are the most likely explanations. These would be exacerbated by caffeine consumption, glycogen depletion and possibly jet lag.

My guess is he trained through this, taking this too casually and as more of a payday -- and now he just realized he is overtrained.

Correction: "hypotension" instead of "hyper"

I passed out after a race once from hyponatremia because I got super nervous and drank too much water.

I don't think it's too unusual but whatever it is, I hope he's OK.

^My point in the above (I'm tired and can't articulate very well) is that there are probably hundreds of reasons someone can pass out after a race, and I don't think most of them indicate serious chronic conditions or illegal drugs or anything too worrisome.

Say, what does "pre-med" mean anyway? Is that when you are an undergrad and want to imply that you will be a doctor? Does any other country actually call it that? Too funny.Pre-med....pre-law.....anyone I've known who ever used those terms ended up flunking out and graduating with a BA in some useless discipline.Good luck with your studies!

pre-med wrote:

This is a serious question.

So I see that Farah passed out after the NYC half today.

Any medical people have an idea as to what could cause that?

Or should I assume something sinister related to a PED?

I'm not throwing accusations but wondering what a medical doctor thought when they read he passed out.

I've heard of people passing out in heat but cold weather?

Ha Ha Funny, Premed wrote:

Say, what does "pre-med" mean anyway?

It means the OP posted before taking todays dose of Thorazine, Haldol, Prolixin, Navane, Loxapine, Stelazine, Trilafon, or Mellaril.

Impressed that despite the premise that this thread hasn't devolved into a string of idiotic drug accusations

overexertion is the most likely scenario, happened to me twice and a lot of runners I know

It's the second time it's happened to him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8410713.stm

As an MD, it is threads like these that remind me just how:

A) Stupid the general populace is when it comes to medicine

and

B) How much the general populace thinks that they know

The guy who posted about the ED perspective is the only post worth reading.

You all are idiots.

Leave medicine to the pros wrote:

As an MD, it is threads like these that remind me just how:

A) Stupid the general populace is when it comes to medicine

and

B) How much the general populace thinks that they know

The guy who posted about the ED perspective is the only post worth reading.

You all are idiots.

Care to elaborate? the general tone Ive received from this thread is that during or following a period of extreme physical exertion there are a number of reasons why one would pass out and that there is no reason to read too much into it without further information...

what about that is idiotic? as an as always humble MD...