That is a seriously problematic study with few controls and a small sample size.
Pilots regularly train in for hypoxia in hyperbaric chambers, losing consciousness repeatedly to train.
Consent and education are important, but safely engaging in breath play is very unlikely to give your partner brain damage.
Exactly what I wondered when this was brought up 6 months ago!
https://vger.to/lemmy.world/comment/16311493
This article is feeling kind of clickbaitish, as the sources are … odd.
However, restricting blood flow to the brain can also have serious health implications.
While not all pressure on the neck will be fatal, research shows even relatively low pressure can cause death by strangulation.
The first source is a medical journal describing the physiology of the arteries in the neck, and does not seem to include anything about restricting blood flow (never mind temporarily) having serious health consequences.
The second source is a book from 1991 about autoerotic asphyxiation with the quote:
autoerotic asphyxia denotes death resulting from failure of a release mechanism of the device, apparatus or prop designed to attain cerebral hypoxia for heightened arousal.
Which is … not the same as doing this with someone, and doesn’t address the risks of a partner who releases pressure immediately after a loss of consciousness.
The issues around consent are troubling indeed, consent should always be paramount.
I also found it amusing that the beginning of the article said
Although rare, strangulation is the leading cause of death in consensual BDSM play.
Which links to a study that found a total of 16 cases that included strangulation between 1982 and 2020. Rare indeed.
My husband and I dabble in breath play, so I was curious and read a few studies myself. It seems that every case study I could find included atypical circumstances. Things like accidental hanging, or asphyxiation due to bags etc being over the head.
This paper includes a 50 year review of cases for anyone interested. https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOFORSJ/TOFORSJ-1-1.pdf
It is also worth noting that loss of consciousness due to cutting off blood flow to the brain (cerebral hypoxia) is not dissimilar to the hypoxia experienced by pilots, who even train with repeated exposure to hypoxia in hyperbaric chambers.
I would be curious to know if there were any studies of the long term effects of this on pilots. (My dive into the rabbit hole is done for the day, lol.)
An article about this was posted 6 months ago and I looked into it: https://lemmy.world/comment/16311493
I wrote:
This article is feeling kind of clickbaitish, as the sources are … odd.
However, restricting blood flow to the brain can also have serious health implications.
While not all pressure on the neck will be fatal, research shows even relatively low pressure can cause death by strangulation.
The first source is a medical journal describing the physiology of the arteries in the neck, and does not seem to include anything about restricting blood flow (never mind temporarily) having serious health consequences.
The second source is a book from 1991 about autoerotic asphyxiation with the quote:
autoerotic asphyxia denotes death resulting from failure of a release mechanism of the device, apparatus or prop designed to attain cerebral hypoxia for heightened arousal.
Which is … not the same as doing this with someone, and doesn’t address the risks of a partner who releases pressure immediately after a loss of consciousness.
The issues around consent are troubling indeed, consent should always be paramount.
I also found it amusing that the beginning of the article said
Although rare, strangulation is the leading cause of death in consensual BDSM play.
Which links to a study that found a total of 16 cases that included strangulation between 1982 and 2020. Rare indeed.
My husband and I dabble in breath play, so I was curious and read a few studies myself. It seems that every case study I could find included atypical circumstances. Things like accidental hanging, or asphyxiation due to bags etc being over the head.
This paper includes a 50 year review of cases for anyone interested. https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOFORSJ/TOFORSJ-1-1.pdf
It is also worth noting that loss of consciousness due to cutting off blood flow to the brain (cerebral hypoxia) is not dissimilar to the hypoxia experienced by pilots, who even train with repeated exposure to hypoxia in hyperbaric chambers.
I would be curious to know if there were any studies of the long term effects of this on pilots. (My dive into the rabbit hole is done for the day, lol.)
Pilots train for hypoxia in hyperbaric chambers, repeatedly losing consciousness to train.
I question the claim that the brain needs to rewire itself because of massive cell death.