vital signs: Fairground spills

Fairground spills

Rollercoaster addicts looking for the ultimate thrill could be putting their health at risk, warn French doctors.

They describe in the Lancet the case of a 31-year-old dance teacher who developed headaches, dizziness and nausea after riding the Space Mountain at Disneyland. Despite the fact that the woman had been securely strapped in, hospital tests showed that an artery which delivers blood to the brain had been damaged, probably by a sudden movement. She recovered after hospital treatment.