Dehu Road

By the time Harshal Memane was admitted to Ojas Multispeciality Hospital in Ravet, he had gone into coma. Doctors said that his state was critical and thus, he was taken in for surgery. All efforts to revive him failed

thrombosis

neurosurgery

neurology

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) has claimed yet another life in the city, stressing a 25-year-old into suffering a stroke and subsequently two heart attacks. This comes a little over a month after the suicide of a 16-year-old, who was hooked to the same game. The addict of the online game collapsed even as he was playing it on Friday night and finally succumbed to a second cardiac arrest that happened on Saturday morning, while being treated at Ojas Multispeciality Hospital at Ravet.According to the cops, Harshal Devidas Memane, a resident of Ravet, had been hooked to the game for two years now. Having lost their parents to an accident in their childhood, the victim and his elder brother Avinash had been brought up by their maternal uncle and his wife, with whom they continued to live. Harshal found employment with a private company briefly but quit it a year ago and most of his time was invested in playing online games on his mobile phone, particularly PUBG.Manish Kalyankar, police inspector atpolice station, said that on Friday, at 9.30 pm, the family saw Harshal as usual enact the game he was playing, which involved shooting targets and also getting shot.However, that evening after he collapsed to the floor feigning to be hit by a bullet, he remained immobile and did not sit up as he did the other times. It took a while before it dawned on Avinash and his uncle and aunt that Harshal was not acting. Their efforts to revive him failed and they subsequently rushed him to a local clinic. However, the doctor on duty observing Harshal’s condition advised the family to take him to a proper hospital.Harshal had gone into coma when he was admitted to Ojas on Friday night. “Given his condition we ran a battery of tests that showed that he had suffered multiple haemorrhagic infarcts in the left arteries of his brain. The patient’s condition was critical and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was only 2 out of 15. He was immediately taken for surgery and operated upon by our team headed by neurosurgeon Dr Bhagirat More,” informed Dr Mahesh Kudale, chief executive officer of Ojas.He added that Harshal had huge blood loss and major arteries of his brain were damaged. “On Friday night too he suffered a heart attack but we were able to resuscitate him. His condition was still nebulous and when the second cardiac arrest came on Saturday morning we were unable to revive him,” he recounted.While the doctors at Ojas have directly linked Harshal’s death to the stress caused by his addiction to PUBG, other doctors too concurred with the diagnosis. “People forget to eat or drink when they are obsessed with their game. This leads to dehydration andthereof, ultimately leading to haemorrhagic infarct in the brain. We’ve seen similar cases where the patients come to us with high homocysteine level due to less liquid intake. This is known to trigger heart attacks,” pointed out Dr Sanjay Vhora, head ofdepartment at BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospitals.He also warned that dehydration raises the risk of myocardial infarction. People with underlying or unknown conditions are more vulnerable to heart attacks under such situation. “People should either avoid playing such games, choosing outdoor activities instead. If they are unable to wean themselves away from such addictions they should ensure they have their meals and down at least three litres of water a day,” he added.Listing out situations that can provoke a stroke, Dr Rajas Deshpande, director, ofdepartment at Ruby Hall Clinic explained, “Inactivity over long durations coupled with a prevailing condition where the blood clots easily, can bring on a cerebral attack/stroke. Such people need to have an active lifestyle and be on blood thinners. However, on many occasions the condition escapes diagnosis until too late. This apart, people exposed to prolonged stress and inadequate sleep, are more prone to seizures and convulsions.”Again, arrhythmia or irregular rhythm of the heart can also cause the situation. “While an existing condition (that may have gone unnoticed and untreated) brings on the risk, even healthy persons can be rendered susceptible by lack of physical activity for more than eight hours. Under the circumstances it is advised to contain screen time, particularly for children, to just an hour, and this includes television, computer and mobile screens,” he warned.