3 Comments

I really appreciate this analysis. Diet predicates longevity. The weight these guys get up must put a strain on the body. I am sure the body blows also contribute to their health issues.

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In the U.S., it's mostly women who die from congestive heart failure, men mainly die from heart attacks -- the first from an inadequacy of the heart to pump blood through the body and the second from the cardiac artery being blocked.

The two most recent prominent early sumo deaths were heart failure at a rather young age. It makes one wonder if the heart is strained from the intensity of the sport. Terao (the one who died at 60) was very muscular but not the behemoth that the old sumo stereotype was (he was about 255 pounds at his peak).

The other issue is that they are struck in the chest quite a bit - I wonder if that causes certain types of trauma.

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I read "The book of the five rings", a body blow, executed correctly, is able to kill an opponent? We hear about mental issues with America football players and I suspect other factors are at play resulting on their elevated mortality rates. I assume they live to 60, if lucky.

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