I Got a Heart Attack Watching the Super Bowl!

Picture this scene.

It's Super Bowl Sunday- as in this Sunday, February 3. The New England Patriots and New York Giants are duking it out in Glendale, Arizona. You, Joe Sixpack (and I, Darren Twelve-Pack...don't ask...) are no doubt pumped up. The adrenaline's pumping, I'm excited as a rabid sports fan as Eli Manning makes a long pass to a receiver for the tie-breaking touchdown. We cheer on, when all in a sudden, one of us experiences chest pain.

Severe chest pain!

OH, MY FUCKING GOD! ONE OF US HAS A HEART ATTACK!

According to a new study in the New England journal of Medicine, doctors in Germany examined about 4300 patients who had heart-related illnesses. On the day that the German football (soccer) team played, the incidence of cardiac emergencies was 2.66 times the normal control number during a control period, from May 1 to June 8 and July 10-31, 2006, and May 1 to July 31, 2003 and 2005. In men, incidence was 3.26 times that, women, 1.82 times the normal number.

Of course, one of the usual suspects- smoking- is one of the culprits in this. After all, we're watching the game, pretty much sitting on our asses, yelling at the TV screens- and in many cases, forgetting gto take (or even setting aside) our heart medication.

Steps medical experts suggest:
1. Stay calm (easier said than done admittedly)
2. Stay away from the Marlboros, Camels, and Winstons!

Click on the title for the ABC News report. For the report that cites the German study itself, http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/358/5/475 ).

(C)2008 by Darren W. Alexander/The DWA Organisation Ink. All Rights Reserved.