Elvis Presley, 1957
The modest toilet looks like the less likely scenario for the drama. But throughout history, he has overthrew kings, celebrities and has been the scene of premature deaths ranging from tragic to bizarre. Attention to Valsalva’s maneuver.
What makes the small division of the house sometimes in the most dangerous?
At the center of this danger is MEROBRA DE VALSALVA – The act of forcefully expanding against the closed airways during an effort, such as defecation. This effort increases the pressure in the chest and reduces blood flow to return to the heart.
For most people, it is harmless. But for those suffering from heart problems, this effort can cause “Defacial syncope” (fainting), cardiac arrhythmias and even sudden death.
The vagus nerve is a key element in this process. Helps control the heart rate and, when underestimated – by intense effort or pressure on the rectum – can cause Bradycardia (dangerously slow heartbeat), hypotension and loss of consciousness. This makes defecation a surprisingly risky act for those who have underlying heart conditions.
Two of the most often cited historical examples of deaths associated with the bathroom – Elvis Presley e o rei Jorge II – offer revealing case studies on the hidden dangers of defecation.
Presley, just 42, was found lying on the floor of Graceland’s bathroom on 16 August 1977. Although fans speculated about an overdose and it is important to mention that the Full report will be sealed until 2027the autopsy narrative reveals a more complex and tragic medical picture.
Presley suffered from chronic constipation, possibly aggravated by a fiber -poor diet, prolonged opioid use and a “megacolon” - a pathologically dilated colon.
On the morning of his death, he would be making a considerable effort to evacuate. Valsalva’s maneuver may have triggered a Fatal arrhythmia In a heart already compromised for years of drug abuse and poor health.
A more aristocratic death occurred in 1760, when the King Jorge II of Great Britain He died suddenly after visiting his bathroom. His doctor, Frank Nicholls, performed a rare royal autopsy and concluded that the king had suffered a rupture of a Thoracic aortic aneurysm – An abnormal expansion of the main artery of the body.
The event will have occurred when the king was getting up from Sanita, when blood voltage may be abrupt.
Historians and doctors today believe that the effort to evacuate or the sudden change of posture may have been the triggering factor. The king’s heart also had obvious signs of disease, with significant calcification of the aortic valve, which aggravated the risks associated with any even light circulatory effort.
Jorge II of Great Britain
Drowning deaths (and worse) brought us sewers
Although fainting in Sanita has risks today, the historical use of bathrooms involved even more deadly consequences, especially for those who used latrines and pits, before the arrival of modern pipe.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many houses had an outer bathrooms built on deep pits designed to accumulate human waste – and often unstable, poorly maintained and dangerously built.
Falling in a pit was not just disgusting – it could be fatal. People who lost balance, especially in the dark or under the influence of alcohol, could drown in the waste or succumb to toxic gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, released as waste decomposed.
Newspapers and reports from coroners of the time reveal a shadow: People – above all children and the elderly – died often after falling into these waste pits.
In his 1851 classic, London Labor and the London Poor, Henry Mayhew describes in detail the deadly risks faced by workers who collected waste, including pits toxic gas asphyxiation.
These tragic accidents boosted public health reforms in the nineteenth century and campaigns for a better sanitation infrastructure, which would eventually pave the way for the modern sewers we trust today.
But the danger did not disappear. In some regions of the world, latrines are still common and continue to decrease falls and drowning related to the bathroom, especially where the facilities are poorly built or little maintained.
The dangers of taking the mobile phone to the bathroom
Modern habits bring new risks. Bringing the mobile phone to the bathroom often extends the past time sitting. This increases the pressure on the rectal venous plexus (The vein network around the rectum), raising the risk of hemorrhoids and anal fissures.
The also represents microbiological dangers. Studies show that mobile phones used in the bathroom can carry harmful toilets from the toilets – and eventually to the mouth. They can host E. coli and other pathogenic agents much after the hands have been washed.
There is still the question of posture. The western toilet, in a sitting position, unlike the common conquingo toilets in parts of Asia and Africa, positions the rectum at an angle that makes evacuation difficult, making the effort more likely. Therefore, some people resort to footrest banks or squatting platforms to improve position and reduce risks.
Whether it is sudden heart death, fainting and falls, or exposure to microorganisms, the bathroom is not always the safe haven we imagine. It is a space where anatomy, privacy and risk intersect – often unnoticed until something goes very badly.
So the next time nature calls it, think twice before settling with the mobile phone. Sit properly, avoid pushing and remember: even in the smaller division, your body may be dealing with a high risk subject.
