Astana Continental team rider Yerlan Pernebekov dies of stroke at age of 19

just to clarify i mentioned cocaine as this is a "substance" that (amongst other things) raises blood pressure and may increase the risk of intracranial haemorrhage in someone with an underlying vascular anomaly (the cause of most non traumatic intracranial bleeds in young adults).

I mentioned it as an attempt (admittedly a slightly sarcastic one) to point out that making a connection between this event and performance enhancing drugs was ill informed, insensitive, and offensive.

If you do not wish to be misunderstood perhaps you should say what you mean rather than making vague euphemistic accusations.

As for taking offence i was doing this on my own behalf. It's easy to say things without any thought if your doing so anonymously on the internet. For me this was something i thought you should be called out on. Hopefully my comment at least made you think about yours.

Not sure what your getting at MKultra. As has been stated above by other medics it sounds, from what's written, like a hemorrhagic stroke. this is overwhelmingly likely to be "one of those things". In terms of substances this could be precipitated by cocaine but I'm not aware of that being a performance enhancing drug. Perhaps you should check your facts before making comments about the death of a 19 year old that I presume you know nothing about.

Hoping this is not linked to a suspected side effect of a certain substance.

I had a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage in 2007, I know how lucky I am. I love my cycling and this is very sad news. These come out of the blue with no warning and for those left behind or survivors dealing with the aftermath of one these, its very hard.
My thoughts go out to to his family and teammates.

Sad. I had a friend at university, a good cyclist, who similarly died in his sleep from an undiagnosed heart problem.

Beaten to it by Helidoc!

Sounds more like a ruptured berry aneurysm / SAH to me.

Very sad indeed. To Colin, as a medic, it was a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage almost certainly. Whether it was an aneurysm, or a vascular malformation, it was a time-bomb in his head, and would have happened at some point.

There doesn't seem to be enough information to make a certain diagnosis (and I'm not a medic), but it sounds like he tragically died from altitude sickness. This can strike anyone, and is indiscriminate with the fit and healthy, and those not so.

Whatever happened, this is very sad and my heart goes out to his family.

Terribly sad