Can I die from "pushing too hard" on the toilet?

Can I die from "pushing too hard" on the toilet?

Michael Largo (Author, "Final Exits") gives expert video advice on: What are some of the common causes of death in the home?; How likely am I to be killed by a home appliance?; Which appliance is the most dangerous? and more...

Using the toilet has been one of those human activities that doesn't get much press. The average person spends over 200 hours a year on "toilet time", and most of the time everything comes out OK. But the problem is when people suffer from constipation. Over 2 billion dollars a year are spent on medicines to alleviate this condition. Not having a bowel evacuation for a week or more will not cause death, but anything more than that could be an indication that there is a blockage or scar tissue. One of the things that occurs when people that try to push too hard is that they could die on the toilet from what's called the Valsalva manoeuvre. The Valsalva manoeuvre is when you hold your nose and your mouth closed when you're trying to close. What happens is it creates a baromic pressure in your heart valves that, if it's weakened in any way already, can cause immediate fainting and even fatality, so people die on the toilet. That's what happened to Elvis; it's how he died on the toilet. The King was on his throne, and he died from the Valsalva manoeuvre.