Soccer matches can break fans' hearts - literally Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:21am EST By Gene Emery http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN3024010020080131 BOSTON (Reuters) - Watching a big soccer match can strain a fan's heart -- not just figuratively, but literally, German researchers reported on Wednesday. After studying the effects of matches during the 2006 World Cup, they concluded that, for German men, the risk of having a heart attack or some other serious heart problem was more than three times higher on days when their team played. It was 82 percent higher for German women. Cardiac emergencies usually occurred within two hours of the start of a match, Dr. Ute Wilbert-Lampen of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and colleagues found. "Viewing a stressful soccer match more than doubles the risk of an acute cardiovascular event," they wrote in their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers said other emotionally turbulent sporting events could likely produce the same effect. To gauge the impact, the Wilbert-Lampen team looked at 4,279 medical records from the seven days the German team played, the 24 days when matches involved teams from other countries, and 242 other days in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Only Germans found to have some heart problem were included in the tally. "Six of the seven games in which the German team participated were associated with an increase in the number of cardiac emergencies over the number during the control period," they wrote. The largest number occurred during a June 30 quarterfinal in which Germany defeated Argentina in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. The next game, Germany's semi-final loss to Italy, produced almost as many heart attacks. In contrast, Germany's match against Portugal for third place, produced no spike in heart-related problems. Germany defeated Portugal 3-1. "Apparently, of prime importance for triggering a stress-induced event is not the outcome of a game -- a win or a loss -- but rather the intense strain and excitement experienced during the viewing of a dramatic match, such as one with a penalty shoot-out," the researchers wrote. The researchers suggested that doctors might want to consider increasing the doses of some heart drugs and give fans with heart disease some behavioral therapy for coping with stress if a potentially intense sporting event looms.
It's because of the heart's increased 02 demand during a stressful event. Simply put, the body's sympathetic response to stress releases catecholamines such as epinephrine (adreline) and norepi (both are the fight part of fight or flight). This makes a heart beat faster thereby making the heart's need for 02 more. If there is already a problem in the vasculature of the heart (stenosis due to atherosclerotic deposits) this equals doomsday beacuse the heart can't perfuse itself with enough 02 to keep up the pumping and heart muscle suffers and/or dies (serious ischemia/angina or heart attack!). Makes sense and it can relate to any stressful event. Interesting a study was done about this related to soccer.
Actually, I shouldn't be surprised to find out that incidences of "café coronary" also increased markedly during the viewing of sports events (given the frequent consumption of alcholic beverages along with popcorn, etc.)
They needed a study to found out this... Incredible, it´s not like they have woken up in the middle of the night and having to run to the bathroom being sick because it´s a derby game coming up. Well, that was earlier in my life, before the great God of soccer and everything else pointed out that soccer is incomplete without a few beers as well..
It might be, but the study is just epidemiology. And epidemiology doesnt' give you cause. It gives you only association.
True, though stress is a likely cause. How sad is it that we are programmed to go into "fight or flight" by watching an event like this that we have absolutely no control over. We need to fine tune this fight or flight thing a bit.