NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2008
Study: Watching Sports May Up Heart Woes
Emotional Stress Of Watching Championship Sporting Events Can Increase Heart Troubles
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People with heart disease would be wise to remain calm while watching the Super Bowl, according to a new study that finds a possible increase in heart problems for viewers of championship sporting events. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
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Heart attacks and other cardiac emergencies doubled in Munich, Germany, when that nation's soccer team played in World Cup matches, a new study reports.
While history suggests European soccer fans can get a bit more worked up than the average American football fan, doctors think there are some valid warnings to be shared.
"I know a little bit about the Super Bowl," study author Dr. Gerhard Steinbeck of Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich said in a telephone interview. "It's reasonable to think that something quite similar might happen."
He and his colleagues present their results in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. They blamed emotional stress for the heart problems, but they note that lack of sleep, overeating, wolfing down junk food, boozing and smoking might have played a role too.
The suggestion is that high-stakes sports showdowns, like the Super Bowl this weekend, can cause the same stress as earthquakes and hurricanes.
"If it's coming down to the line and it's a field goal, all you see is sweat going down my face," Giants fan Eddie Lopez told CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes. "It's like I'm the one kicking the field goal."
His wife agreed.
"Yes, yes, he gets all stressed out and yells and acts like an animal," she said.
The new work "confirms something people have been highly skeptical about ... that soccer (would) produce that kind of emotional investment that might trigger a heart attack," said psychologist Douglas Carroll of the University of Birmingham in England.
"People who are not interested in sport find it very difficult to comprehend this," said Carroll, who in 2002 reported a link between World Cup soccer and heart attacks in England.
The new paper included heart attacks, cardiac arrests, episodes of irregular heartbeat and activations of automatic implanted defibrillators. The researchers noted the number of cases reported in the greater Munich area during World Cup competition in Germany in the summer of 2006. They compared that to the totals for similar periods in 2003 and 2005, and for several weeks before and after the tournament.
In all, the study included 4,279 patients. Analysis showed that on the seven days when the German team played, the overall number of cardiac emergencies was more than double the norm. For men, it tripled.
Louis Tiechholz knows the symptoms well. He's a Giants fan - and a cardiologist, Cordes reports.
"If there's a sudden death overtime, I think in some individuals who are really at the borderline, that could tip 'em over in terms of stress," he said.
The effect was strongest in people with known heart disease. So on Super Bowl Sunday, such people and others with known risks for heart disease - like high blood pressure or diabetes - should take extra care of themselves, said Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
She said that means:
People with known heart conditions should also keep their nitroglycerin and aspirin handy, she said.
And if heart symptoms appear, she said, call emergency services right away. "Don't just chew that aspirin and think it'll go away."
In fact, research by Dr. David Jerrard, an associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland, indicates that some men do put off seeking emergency treatment if they're watching a game.
On a typical Super Bowl Sunday, "the number of patients waiting to be seen dries up dramatically," Jerrard said. But delaying that visit to stick with a sportscast is a bad idea, especially for people with a history of heart trouble, he says.
"Much of the chest pain or upper abdominal pain that people might be experiencing is mostly likely related to the food they're eating, the alcohol they're ingesting," he said. "But of course, you never know."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 20 Comments
- Wait wait wait... is this article trying to tell me that... stress may up heart woes? But we already knew that! I figure if it''s stress over sports, job, school, family... it''s all bad stress! Why would anyone think that "sports fan stress" is different?
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- I consider these incidents potential Darwin awards. A bunch of overweight, sedentary guys who haven''t done a lick of sport in years, screaming at the television and dropping over of a heart attack. Very funny, actually.
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- How does someone take a story like this and make it political? Amazing.
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- "... this factor will be plugged in the universal health plan proposed by Obama."
Yes we do need that universal health care. One of the biggest problems with our current "health care" system is it only treats sick people. But it is well known that it is much more efficient to treat what makes people sick before they get there. Exercise, sleep, healthy diet and stress management are more effective than anything the pharmaceutical companies brew up.
But I thought watching a game was a good way to let off steam and enjoy being with friends and family - Reply to this comment
- The biggest sports fans are usually the biggest around the waist.
On a related note, Bush is the worst president in history and old geyser McCain will lose the election in November. - Reply to this comment
- Actually, just watch Bellicheat on the sidelines can make any rational person ill.
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- Yes, being a stupid sports-watching jock and eating like a pig is definitely something one would best try and avoid.
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- That''s right, we''re too dumb and stupid. We need garbage like this to tell us how to watch sports. Best get used to it if the nanny dems get in. They will be into every aspect of our lives. What to eat, how to eat, what to drive, etc, etc. And you idiots complain about the Patriot Act!
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- The sky is falling THE SKY IS FALLING! Run RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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- Oh believe me, if Eli be throwing them INT''s, there''s gonna be vases flying across the room.
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- "What do you do daddy (all right, mummy) at work?" "Well, I conclusively found in my research with a certainty of 99.53% that watching those games means that people will overeat and lose sleep. This is a health issue; this factor will be plugged in the universal health plan proposed by Obama. This fascinating discovery has been known only with the wonders of computers; i feel sorry for those uninformed university graduates of the past centuries."
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- When I was a young adult, I had a friend who used to think that watching sports made him athletic. He didn''t need to work out, as he was already "watching the game" (whatever season/game it was). He is currently carrying about 270 lbs on 5'' 6", has no muscle tone or stamina...but he sure knows his sports. I would hope that he is not a typical sports fan.
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- I survived L.S.U. Were # 1....
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- [I just love how far-leftists, regardless of the article, cannot leave their bigotry about the right out of the discussion. This article is about SPORTS and heart attacks caused by stress....and yet a leftist has turned it once again into a political attack ... So ridiculous!!]
[Posted by singinrick at 02:08 PM : Jan 31, 2008]
what''s ridiculous is the so-called ''man of god'' passing judgement on everyone ... especially those that don''t parrot the same insanity as yourself. is the passing of judgement the work of your god and saviour jesus christ almighty ... the one who''s really three ... but really one?
my comments are a response to a like minded type to yourself. he''s the one who brought the politics into the disucssion. i would assume you''re working on your admonishment of him as i post this ... or maybe that myopia you idiots suffer from has likely auto-filtered that out of your reality.
you can take your ''far-leftist'' judgemental characterization of people you know absolutely nothing about and stick it up your god fearing a$$h0!3 ... ******@d. - Reply to this comment
- [Is there ANYTHING libs don''''t hate?]
[Posted by easeup at 01:24 PM : Jan 31, 2008]
i wouldn''t know ... the masters of hatred, intolerance and control are right-leaning. - Reply to this comment
- Silly story, questionable conclusions! Could be not that being a sports fan leads to heart disease... could be that people whose lifestyles include passive watching of sports are more likely to have heart problems (which I think we already knew). It even says fans with a history of heart disease were more likely to have a problem. So the cause is not being sports fan, it is other lifestyle and genetic things.
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- Wow only 4 posts & an intolerant libtard hates on sports.
Don''t worry, Bob, those mean jocks can''t give you atomic wedgies, indian burns or purple nurples anymore.
Is there ANYTHING libs don''t hate? - Reply to this comment
- [For rabid fans of the New York Giants and New England Patriots, this Sunday''s Super Bowl won''t be just a game. It may be a health hazard.]
not to mention that''s it''s basically a complete waste of time. - Reply to this comment
- working out helps your heart, watching sports, not so much. we have become a spectator society. oh well, hope it''s a good game. go giants
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- It''s a chance I''m willing to take.
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