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Seinfeld Syncope - Term referring to
medical condition effecting a fan of the popular sitcom
SEINFELD/NBC/1990-98. Richard Digangi, a 64-year-old retiree from
Burlington, Massachusetts laughed so hard when watching SEINFELD
reruns that he experienced fainting spells and passed out face down
into his food while eating dinner. Doctor's at the Burlington Lahey
Clinic later discovered why Digangi fainted.
The condition is caused by narrowing of the arteries compounded by the fact that when a
person laughs, their blood pressure drops. In February 1997
cardiologists Eisenhauer opened one of Digangi's arteries and ended
the "Seinfeld Syncope" phenomenon.
A summary of the case is found in
a medical letter in Catheterization & Cardiovascular Diagnosis
October 1997, 42(2) p.242 (Cox SV; Eisenhauer AC; Hreib K).
The Cast of SEINFELD
In
addition, a medical miracle occurred when an injured high school
student awoke from his coma upon hearing a TV broadcast of the
SEINFELD program.
After Dan Cassill from Tallahassee, Florida
crashed his Mustang convertible into a tree on December 1996, he
fell into a deep coma. Seven week later, when his mother turned on
the TV set near Cassill's bedside Dan immediately awoke.
The program
on the tube ironically was an episode of SEINFELD (Dan's favorite
show) that featured Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) renting a video
about a comatose woman. (People Weekly Spring 1998 Extra
p.93) See also
"Mary Hart Syndrome"
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