Diving After 50

[pir8]

I think it pretty much depends on the individual and how well they take care of themselves.

 

[Kingpatzer]

Sounds like an idiot actor for not telling his physician up front that he had been diving, and sounds like an even bigger idiot doctor for thinking that age is the issue.

 

[pennypue]

Sounds like a really smart doctor to me!!!
He did a big ole CYA.......that way when Sutherland goes back to the set to dive and kills or cripples himself, he'll be able to say in court, "I told him absolutely NOT to dive."

 

[robertarak]

Let me add only this, and not comment on the rest of the story...

If he had called DAN, perhaps he would have avoided going under the general and the knife.

 

[Gombessa]

Lol my (non-diving) gf showed this to me last night, and now thinks it's established gospel in the diving/medical industry! I did a search to see if it was old news here, but of course the search engine doesn't let you search two-character terms like "50."

 

[rigdiver]

An ER doc friend of mine is 60+ and dives actively. He is retired USN with all the specs. Hyperbaric specialist, etc., etc.. He has done my yearly physical to let me teach for another year many times over. This is rubbish. Find a doc that knows diving. Oh, your ear hurts: "Don't dive." I wish I had a buck for everytime a student told me that was their docs solution.
Bill R.N.

 

[Thalassamania]

Mr. Sutherland needs to consult a competent Hyperbaric Physician, of which there are a bunch iin SoCal. If anyone has contact with Mr. Sutherland, please suggest to him Tom Neuman at UCSD Medical Center?

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]UCSD Hyperbaric Medicine Dept.
200 West Arbor Drive
Office:619-543-5222
After Hours and Weekends: 619-543-6400/Emergency Department
Fax: 619-543-6986 [/FONT]

 

[Cacia]

Now the medical advice in the article about not divng past 50 in

This is why it really bugs me when people post medical issues for discussion and certain people will start shouting that they need to see a doctor right away. Sometimes gathering information from a broad base is your best assurance against bad or inaccurate medical advice. Physicians are usually right but the 30% of the time I estimate they give me bad uninformed scoop. The only way to gauge/judge this is by doing your homework...which includes discussion and exploration.

Not to mention the fact a high percentage of the ones I encounter look very unhealthy. NOT ALL....but higher than I would expect, considering "health" is their business.

 

[livewire]

There are plenty of divers in the water over 50. Go to any tropical resort and you'll see them. One incident of a 72 year old diver does not make a rule. There are plenty of incidents out there where sinus squeeze has left some blood in the mask in divers far younger than 50. I know it's different, but it doesn't mean that you should rule out diving altogether. Many of us know divers far beyond 50 who dive without incident. Some of these people are famous: Stan Waterman, Dr. Sylvia Earle, George Bush Sr., Jacque Cousteau. The truth is that when you get older, you're more prone to things like blood clots, broken bones, and other problems, diving related or not, it's simply a fact of life and the aging process. In the end, your personal health should be the determining factor of wheter or not you are healthy enough to dive, not the year you were born.

 

[covediver]

This is the biggest load of hogwash (a word chosen to reflect the family-orientation of the board) that I have ever heard. First, I doubt that the studio would let a 72-year old be insured for the film without a major physical, at which time a competent physician would have ruled him in or out based on his general health and specifics of the job. Its called "risk management" and the hollywood accountants are all about risk management. Second, I doubt that he is doing his own stunts other than to get into costume at which time a body double or stunt person takes over. Third, I do believe that the doctor told him not to dive after 50. Lots of doctors know nothing about scuba diving but make these kinds of pronouncements every day.

Wish these has beens would just stay in their Malibu homes and attend their political rallies or whatever they do.

And perhaps his lifestyle did have something to do with it. Given his kid's recent run in with the law for drunk driving, bet the acorn didn't fall far from the tree in that family Maybe he and David Crosby has the same instructor.