Don’t Let the Last Few Minutes of the Game Give You a Heart Attack (Literally)

Calm down, folks…it’s only a game.
True, it may be the Super Bowl, the biggest game of American football of the year. And, it may be the one day of the year where we actually care about the commercials on TV. And perhaps it is true that we consume more aerosol cheese on this day than every other day of the year.
But, just because the game of football is dangerous enough that the National Football League will be putting impact sensors on players next year, doesn’t mean that it has to be dangerous to the spectators too.
That’s because a new study released by the Heart Institute, Good Samarian Hospital and Keck School of Medicine at USC suggests that a Super Bowl loss increases chances of cardiac death because of the emotional stress experienced by hardcore fans.
The study involved analyzing regression models for mortality rates for cardiac causes during the 1980 Los Angeles Super Bowl loss and for the 1984 Los Angeles Super Bowl win. Results showed that the loss in 1980 increased total and cardiac deaths in both men and women and triggered more death in older than younger patients. The 1984 Super Bowl win reduced death more frequently in older people and in women.
So, this Sunday, if the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers start to stress you out, just relax and get away from the TV for a bit. Take a stroll outside. Pull out that terrible towel you’ve been knitting for the past couple weeks. Or point your browser here to Medgadget. We’ll be here. It’s a promise.
Abstract in Clinical Cardiology: Role of Age, Sex, and Race on Cardiac and Total Mortality Associated With Super Bowl Wins and Losses
Image credit: betykae…