Do you think watching the National Team is just a pastime? Science says your heart can suffer the consequences. A study published in the British Medical Journal in December 2002 opened a line of research that continues to be confirmed today: the «massive stress» experienced while cheering for your own team, even from the couch at home, can trigger acute cardiovascular events in predisposed individuals. And the more dramatic the match, especially if it ends in penalties, the greater the risk seems to be.
The study, conducted by Douglas Carroll and colleagues at the University of Birmingham, analyzed hospital admissions in England during the 1998 World Cup. They compared data from match days with equivalent periods from previous and subsequent years. The result was clear: the match against Argentina, the most tense and decided by penalties, produced a statistically significant increase in cardiovascular admissions. It was not the World Cup in general, but that particular match that multiplied the risk.
Daniel López Rosetti, head of the Stress Medicine Service at the Central Hospital of San Isidro, recalls: «It was in the round of 16, about 15 or 16 years after the Falklands War, terrible… There were expulsions, penalties during regulation time, it ended in a 2-2 draw, they had to go to extra time and there were no goals. The last one was taken by David Batty, and he missed it, so England was eliminated from the World Cup. That day and the following days saw an increase in hospitalizations for cardiovascular causes.»
The specialist explains that the acute stress discharge can rupture atheromatous plaques, accumulations of lipids and cholesterol in the arteries. «It literally creates a perfect storm, indicating that the brain does not distinguish between a real catastrophe and a soccer one.» That storm involves a biological cascade: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is activated, raising cortisol, which hypersensitizes cells to adrenaline and noradrenaline. At the same time, hypercoagulability mechanisms are activated, adhesion molecules on atheromatous plaques are altered, a pro-inflammatory state is generated, heart rate increases, and vasoconstriction occurs. The result can be the rupture of a vulnerable plaque or a lethal arrhythmia.
This study was so impactful that the authors themselves suggested that, given the documented cardiovascular risk of penalty shootouts, an alternative for deciding matches in such instances should be considered.
Eight years later, the 2006 World Cup in Germany provided an opportunity for prospective research on the same phenomenon. A team of emergency physicians from the Munich area monitored cardiovascular events in real time across 15 locations in the state of Bavaria throughout the tournament and compared the results with equivalent periods in 2003 and 2005. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in January 2008, evaluated 4,279 patients. On days when Germany played, the incidence of cardiac emergencies was 2.66 times higher than in the control period. For men, the figure rose to 3.26 times; for women, it was 1.82 times higher. The peak incidence occurred within the first two hours of each match’s start.
ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions, the most severe, increased 2.49 times. Among patients who suffered coronary events on match days, 47% had known coronary artery disease, compared to 29% in the control period. Preexisting disease was the main risk factor. A key finding: when foreign teams played, the number of cardiac emergencies remained within normal values.
A study published in 2021 in Acta Cardiologica added an additional dimension: gender differences. It examined cardiovascular emergency admissions in Zagreb during and after Croatia’s matches in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The results showed that watching the matches represented an additional risk, especially pronounced in women. The finding nuances the typical image of the «fan with a heart attack» as a predominantly male phenomenon.
Cardiologist Jorge Belardi, in charge of specialty services at Swiss Medical, states: «The phenomenon is well described in the medical literature, but we are not yet seeing it in the group of clinics I manage.» However, Hospital Austral released a press release stating they are recording 20% more consultations for cardiovascular causes.
José Bonorino, head of the Coronary Unit at Hospital Austral, explains: «A National Team match can function as a true emotional stress test. During an intense match, the body activates the sympathetic nervous system and releases adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. This causes an increase in heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, and an increase in oxygen consumption by the heart muscle.» Possible consequences range from coronary events due to rupture of atherosclerotic plaques to arrhythmias, hypertensive crises with risk of stroke, and the so-called stress cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo syndrome, a transient cardiac dysfunction that can mimic a heart attack. Also known as broken heart syndrome, it was first described in Japan in 1990. The fundamental difference is that in Takotsubo there is no obstruction of the coronary arteries. There is even the Happy Heart Syndrome, where the trigger is an intense positive emotion.
So now you know: next time the National Team plays a decisive match, take care of your heart. It’s no joke.
Para mí esto es otro verso progre para arruinarnos la pasión. Yo creo que si te da un infarto viendo a la Sele, morís feliz, no como viendo a estos políticos de mierda. Aguante Argentina, el corazón se la banca solo. No me jodan con estudios, el fútbol es sangre y gloria.
Para mí esto es un verso de los yankis y la industria farmacéutica para vender pastillas. Mirá si la selección va a dar infartos, los únicos que se mueren son los pobres laburantes por la crisis que generan estos hdp. Aguante Messi y a la mierda los farsantes.