Although most commonly known as the "choking game" other slang monikers used by teenagers for the activity include "suffocation roulette" and "space monkey".
Alarm parents
The news that some children are engaging in "choking games" will undoubtedly alarm parents, especially those of teenagers in the 11 to 16-year-old category who appear to be the age group most commonly involved.
From a medical perspective, this is a highly dangerous practice with unpredictable results from person to person.
By compressing someone’s neck you risk cutting off the supply of blood to the brain, which is delivered by the carotid arteries located on either side of the neck.
Strangulation may also cut off the supply of air by blocking the air passage at the neck.
However, the usual mechanism by which the brain is affected is either through venous obstruction leading to low oxygen in the brain (hypoxia) or because of arterial spasm due to carotid pressure and low cerebral blood flow.
Regardless of the specific strangulation method, death occurs as a result of brain hypoxia and the dying off of individual brain cells.
Brain injury
Less serious outcomes include seizures and short-term memory loss.
For those victims resuscitated just before death, the prospect of a serious and permanent brain injury is a real risk, resulting in the person living but in a permanent vegetative state or with a serious brain injury.