Are you a sports fan? Have you ever gotten super excited while attending a sporting event, risen to your feet screaming, thrown your beer into the faces of the family sitting behind you, and promptly dropped dead of a myocardial infarction? Well, it happens. Miller-McCune reports on research about soccer and its possible health consequences (for both fans and players). A sample:
A study in the International Journal of Cardiology compared incidents of sudden cardiac death in Switzerland during the 2002 World Cup compared to the same period one year earlier. It reported a 77 percent increase in such fatalities among men and a 33 percent increase among women. And a paper [PDF] published in the New England Journal of Medicine found the number of cardiac emergencies in metropolitan Munich was 2.66 times greater during the 2006 World Cup than compared to the weeks just before and after the event. Concluding that “preventative measures are urgently needed” before the next tournament, the authors offered a series of suggestions, ranging from cognitive therapy to “the administration or increase in dose of beta-adrenergic-blocking drugs.”
Sources: Miller-McCune, International Journal of Cardiology, New England Journal of Medicine
Image by Photocapy, licensed under Creative Commons.
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