Pass The Dip And The Defibrillator

 

 

Planning on watching The Super Bowl this weekend?  Make sure you’ve got 911 on speed dial. 

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, physicians state that while watching the game can be stressful on your heart – especially if you’ve got a history of heart problems – it can be greatly exacerbated by excessive drinking and an over consuming fatty foods.  Here’s an excerpt from the article – for the whole thing, please click on the link below:

Stress, snacks of Super Bowl can be hard on heart

A study being released today showed an increase in circulatory deaths after one particularly brutal game three decades ago.

…

Fifteen percent more people in Los Angeles died in the two-week period after the game than in the same period in years when the local team wasn't playing in the Super Bowl. There was a 22 percent increase in deaths among people 65 and older. Researchers also looked at the 1984 Super Bowl but did not find an increase in deaths - perhaps, they said, because the game wasn't as thrilling and the Los Angeles Raiders won.

"A Super Bowl game, where you have so much hyped-up excitement and this severe emotional stress, you might get an elevated heart rate and blood pressure," said Dr. Eleanor Levin, a cardiologist with Kaiser Santa Clara Medical Center. "It's like running a marathon. It's this severe stress causing an increased workload on the heart, and surpassing what it's able to do."

Remember:  it’s only a game.  Unless, of course, you just bet your entire retirement fund on the wrong team.