6 formas en que el día del juego puede lastimar tu corazón

Si eres fanático de los Dallas Cowboys, es probable que te hayan roto el corazón más de una vez a lo largo de los años. Ver a tu equipo favorito el día del partido puede ser estresante, pero ¿puede lastimarte literalmente el corazón?

Aficionado: El “Final de infarto” de los Cowboys me salvó la vida

Some researchers have shown that big games like the Super Bowl are linked to increases in cardiac events. One study published in The American Journal of Cardiology showed that deaths from heart attacks rose in Los Angeles on the day the St. Louis Rams lost the Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers (the game was hosted in California). The game was a nail-biter, with the lead changing several times.

The phenomenon isn’t limited to football watchers. Researchers at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich published a study on emergency room visits in Germany during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Results showed that during six of the seven games involving the German team were linked to a substantial increase in Germans visiting the emergency room with heart problems — 2.7 times more than usual. Games that determined whether a team stayed in the tournament caused the highest level of emotional stress and resulting cardiac events.

Es posible que una tormenta perfecta de estrés emocional, frecuencia cardíaca elevada, refrigerios poco saludables el día del juego y consumo excesivo de alcohol pueda poner a los espectadores en riesgo de eventos cardíacos adversos, especialmente si ya están al borde debido a un estilo de vida poco saludable o historial de antecedentes. problemas del corazón.

Aquí hay seis formas posibles en que el día del juego podría lastimar tu corazón:

• Sitting too long. Prolonged sedentary time can negatively impact your heart and blood vessels. Make a point to get up and walk around during commercial breaks, or challenge yourself to do push-ups every time your team scores.
• Stressing over a close game. Chronic high levels of stress hormones lead to higher heart rates and higher blood pressures. Even the most die-hard fans should try to keep perspective that it’s only a football game, and in the grand scheme of things has little impact on your daily life.
• Eating unhealthy snacks. Game day snacks are rarely healthy. Bring your own heart-healthy versions to the game watching party, like veggies and hummus, or exercise and eat healthy before the game to limit the damage.
• Drinking alcohol. Binge drinking is bad for your health in many ways, but it also decreases your inhibitions so you’re more likely to overeat unhealthy snacks. It’s generally recommend that you should limit alcohol intake to two drinks per day, for both dietary and behavioral reasons.
• Losing sleep. Whether your game went into overtime or the stress of a heartbreaking loss has left you tossing and turning, sleep deprivation can be unhealthy for the heart.
• Feeling depressed. Sports fan depression can happen, especially after a very emotionally-charged game. Research over the past two decades has shown that depression and heart disease commonly occur together. Again, it’s important to remember it’s just a game and to focus on the bigger picture.

Take this quiz to find out your risk of heart disease.