Can watching sports be bad for your health?

As the new year begins, sports fans rejoice! You’ve had the excitement of the college football bowl games and the national championship, the NFL playoff games are winnowing teams down to the Super Bowl contestants, and basketball and hockey seasons are in full swing. There’s even some early talk of spring training for the upcoming Major League Baseball season. While I hate to rain on anyone’s parade, the truth is that there can be health risks associated with watching sports. I’ve seen it firsthand while working in a walk-in clinic near Fenway Park, where people would show up bleeding from cuts that needed stitches (from trips and falls at the stadium), broken bones (from trying to catch a foul ball or after an altercation with another fan), dehydration, or other minor problems. The problems can be more serious. In fact, studies have shown that watching sports — whether live at the stadium or on television — can have dire health consequences. The big game may come with a big cost Doctors and nurses often describe how quiet things get in the emergency room during a World Series game or the Super Bowl. But once the game ends, things get busy. It seems that many people with chest pain, trouble breathing, or other symptoms of a potentially serious problem delay seeking care until after the game. Of course, there’s another possibility: the game itself — especially if a game is close and particularly exciting — might cause enough stress on the body that heart atta...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Source Type: blogs