New Maladies

At fault: slots and video games

Few things delight subscribers--or editors--of medical journals more than accounts of new and weird ailments. Over the years readers of the New England Journal of Medicine have been treated to numerous such "first reports." Among them: cyclist's pudendal neuritis (genital numbness from marathon bike rides on poorly padded seats), water-skier's enema (the result of high-speed falls in a sitting position) and disco felon (a finger infection from constant finger snapping on the dance floor).

Now come two more. Space-Invaders wrist, described by Medical Student Timothy McCowan of Little Rock, Ark., is a painful stiffness resulting from "repeated prolonged playing" of the popular Atari video game. According to McCowan, himself a sufferer, rapid repetitive arm movement with much abrupt bending and twisting of the wrist and forearm are required to maneuver the spaceship. The second affliction was discovered by Dr. Richard Neiman of Sacramento and Susan Ushiroda of Portland, Ore., after examination of two women who complained of sudden pain in the right shoulder. Investigation revealed that their discomfort followed a weekend of gambling at Lake Tahoe, Nev. For "slot-machine tendinitis," the authors have a surefire treatment: "Rest or winning a jackpot early."

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