Two Maladies to watch out for: Lucky Strikitus & Tinker Fever

There are two serious maladies afflicting divers that deserve attention. One is common, one not so common. The first is Lucky Strikitus, or Winstonoliosis or Marlboroatosis, or more readily referred to as: Smoking and Diving. While smoking among adults continues to decline, we still find divers who smoke. Divers, generally, watch their health habits more than the average person. Therefore, we find it difficult to comprehend why there are still divers who smoke. Virtually every diving analysis of diving and smoking shows that the two do not or should not mix. When we read of diving accidents we often find hidden in the interview or article the fact that the diver was a smoker."Only two packs a day", is often related. TWO PACKS A DAY! That, my friends, is an accident looking for a place to happen. Divers need all the oxygen they can get - and smoking insures the diver that he or she isn't going to be getting an adequate supply - especially if that diver is diving at extreme depths. However, depth isn't necessarily the only factor contributing to a smoking diver's problems. Even shallower dives become more stressful, since the smoker must exert more energy and effort than the non-smoking diver to accomplish the same task. If you don't believe that - you might check with DAN (Diving Alert Network), medical reports in Skin Diver Magazine and Undercurrent, and hundreds of medical diving accident reports published annually. Smokers experience increased airway resistance and breathing through the regulators used in Scuba diving compounds that problem. To healthy divers the slight restriction in airflow while breathing with the use of a regulator usually goes unnoticed, but a smoker will find that added restriction dangerous. The airway resistance smokers experience is heightened at depths exceeding 100 feet - and for some, at much shallower depths. The smoking diver's lungs are incapable of supplying the proper amount of oxygen to the body's vital tissues. When this happens at depth, nitrogen buildup is greater and the possibility of The Bends increases. I know, nothing I say here will make a diver stop smoking - but if a loved one of yours is a smoking diver - maybe you can push him or her a little harder to give it up. It just ain't worth it - you know? Stay on him or her to give up smoking - or GIVE UP DIVING!

The second affliction that seems to be 'going around' is Tinker Fever. This dread disease is attributable to deep diving for a particular tropical fish with the interesting scientific name: Chaetodon tinkeri, named after Spencer Wilkie Tinker, who directed the Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu from 1940 until 1972. The Tinker's Butterflyfish is found at depths exceeding 100 feet and only in Hawaiian waters. It is much sought after by aquarium enthusiasts - and tropical fish collectors are well rewarded for it's capture.

When this lovely fish is brought to the surface, the tropical fishermen have to decompress the fish for it to survive the ascent. Too many times the diver shows more care and concern for the fish than he does for himself - and Tinker Fever results.

We had an accident off Miloli'i a few years ago with a diver making a rapid ascent from 225 feet! Guess what he was after? Right. You guessed it: Tinker's Butterfly Fish. What a price to pay for a trip to Honolulu's decompression chamber. Again, IT JUST AIN'T WORTH IT! Not to mention the fact that with so many tropical fishermen taking this beautiful and endemic Hawaiian fish - their numbers are rapidly declining - so soon, we won't have them around any more, period.

So, let's all go on a campaign to rid us of these two avoidable diseases, Lucky Stikitus and Tinker Fever. The antidote is a good shot of common sense and a dose of love for the environment.