Doctors: Watching World Cup Ups Risk Of Heart Attack For Some
DETROIT (WWJ) - With the U.S. facing Belgium in World Cup soccer play — the tense competition may be more than some fans can handle.
Even if you don't love it yourself, you know soccer fans can get very worked up when their favorite teams play.
In fact, while watching the World Cup shootout between Brazil and Chile from a stadium bar, one 69 year-old Brazilian fan had a heart attack and later died at the hospital.
Providence cardiologist Shukri David says that for people who already have risk factors, watching the World Cup can set the stage for heart problems.
"You're having usually a fatty meal," he said, "...and the outcome is really not something that you can predict."
"With all of the stress, the excitement, it's a perfect storm for your arteries to constrict — and it certainly could lead to a heart attack," David said.
Watching the games tripled the risk of heart attack for male fans, according to a 2008 study in The New England Journal of Medicine.