Beware! This World Cup can kill
Paris, June 8: For football fans, the World Cup should be a time of fun with family and friends. But beware, experts say, it can also sicken or even kill you.
Research has pointed to a long list of hazards ranging from heart attacks and strokes, to unsafe sex, accidents, suicides, and a spike in domestic abuse.
“It is not just a game,” warned a 2010 study in the American Journal of Medicine which said major sporting events “can acutely increase cardiovascular event and death rates.”
Most at risk are patients with known coronary artery disease, it said, or those who find themselves in particularly stressful circumstances: “a passionate fan, a high- stakes game, a high- intensity game, a loss, and a loss played at home.” Many a football fan may have shouted at the TV that they “nearly had a heart attack” when their team missed a shot at goal or let an opposing player through to score. But this is not something to joke about.
Research has repeatedly shown that psychological triggers such as stress, anxiety, and anger — emotions any sports fan can relate to — can bring on a heart attack.
“We know that this is an exciting time but don’t forget about your heart health,” advises Julie Ward, a senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation.
Measures to reduce risk include using blood- thinning aspirin, meditation, and avoiding activities such as smoking, eating arteryclogging, fatty foods, or binging on alcohol or drugs.
Though not within the control of fans, winning or losing makes a difference too, according to one study in New Zealand.
I t found a 50 per cent increase in hospital admissions for heart failure, particularly among women, after a semifinal loss in the 2003 rugby World Cup.
By contrast, hospitalisations were lower after the country’s 2011 semi- final win. It is not only our hearts we should watch.
One study noted an explos i o n during the 2014 Wo r l d Cup in cases of “retinal vein occlusion” — a blockage of small veins in the eye that is also known as an “eye stroke”.
A common cause of vision loss, it is more common in people with cardiovascular disease.
Researchers compared the number of cases treated at a German university eye clinic during and four weeks after the 2014 World Cup with the same period in 2013. It found a definite increase, and said “it can be assumed that the emotional strain caused by a World Cup is a risk factor.” Why does the beautiful game stir up such dangerous passions? Psychologists have suggested that sporting events can give people a sense of group belonging and shared identity.
There is also the sense of hope they provide, even for fans of teams that never win... Maybe this time!