Honolulu Warnings Or Dangers Tips by thinking Top 5 Page for this destination

FIRST TIME SURFERS BEWARE

Dr. James Pearce would like to hear from anyone who thinks he or she had surfer's myelopathy after the first time out on the SURF board. Call 808-522-4476.

Hiraoka, now 26, didn't have an accident during his August 2002 outing, yet he still suffered a rare spinal-cord injury that Straub Clinic & Hospital doctors have named "surfer's myelopathy."

"A person would have a surfing lesson the first time, go out in the surf and be out on the long side, one or two hours," he said.

While on the water or on their way back to shore, they started to feel pain in the back and weakness or numbness in the legs. Some collapsed on the beach, he said.

About 80 percent of the patients have recovered fully, Pearce said.But some, such as a vacationing medical student who is the son of a neurologist in Japan, remain paraplegic, he said. "It's totally tragic."

Pearce, who frequently works in Straub's emergency room, said he first noticed the unusual condition in one or two cases in the late 1980s. He began documenting what was happening and asked other doctors to keep an eye out for similar cases.

"In a year or year and a half, it became clear that we were seeing a very specific syndrome," Pearce said.

He and his colleagues reported on nine patients with surfer's myelopathy between June 1998 and January 2003 in the August issue of the SPINE journal. The average age was 25.

He has seen only about three local patients, including one woman.

Pearce believes the injuries to neophyte surfers are caused by repeatedly hyperextending or arching their back off the board looking for waves and preparing to catch a wave.

"They're not used to it. They hyperextend their back a lot of times and they happen to have the kind of build that predisposes them to a temporary problem with the blood flow to the spinal cord.

"They do it again and again and again, so the lower part of the spinal cord is impaired because of temporary but repeated problems of blood flow to that area."

WHAT IS VOG?:Air Pollution in Hawaii

The Island of Hawai`i report physical complaints associated with vog exposure. These complaints include headaches, breathing difficulties, increased susceptibility to respiratory ailments, watery eyes, sore throat, flu-like symptoms, and a general lack of energy.
Noxious sulfur dioxide gas and other pollutants emitted from Kilauea Volcano on the Island of Hawai`i react with oxygen and atmospheric moisture to produce volcanic smog (vog) and acid rain. Vog poses a health hazard by aggravating preexisting respiratory ailments, and acid rain damages crops and can leach lead into household water supplies.

The thick, acrid haze that had covered the southeastern part of the island for several days. People were also warned to be aware of respiratory problems, as these conditions could deteriorate more rapidly in areas of heavier haze. This choking haze was not caused by a forest fire or industrial pollution but by light winds blowing gas emissions from Kilauea Volcano into the area.

Kilauea Volcano on the Island of Hawai`i emits about 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas each day during periods of sustained eruption. Air pollution caused by sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases became a frequent problem on the island in mid-1986, when the volcano's ongoing eruption, which began in 1983, changed from episodes of spectacular lava fountaining (shown here) to a nearly constant but quiet outflow of lava and gas. Kilauea also emits about 2,000 tons of irritating sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) gas each day during periods of sustained eruption. Deep inside the volcano, where pressure is high, the SO2 is dissolved in molten rock (magma). When the magma rises toward the surface, where pressure is lower, the gas bubbles out and escapes.

Website: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs169-97/

YOU WILL WANT TO LIVE HERE!

VISITING HAWAII IS DANGEROUS!

It will make you think about giving up everything to live here.
If you do, take time to learn about what impact that decision will have on your finances.

Website: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/

WATCH OUT FOR THE WEATHER!

STORMS HAPPEN. BE PREPARED.
All the details relating to Hawaiian weather can be found on the website below.

Website: http://www.wunderground.com/US/HI/Honolulu.html

Hawaii Center

Hawaii Center for Volcanology

Website: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/GG/hcv.html