Super Bowl LVI: How to avoid a heart attack during the big game

Football fans live and die with their teams. And there have been some heart-stopping games during Super Bowl Sunday.

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Medical professionals, however, warn fans to be careful while rooting for their team during the big game. The threat of a heart attack is real.

“Those who have high blood pressure, those with high cholesterol, diabetes, if you smoke, if you drink too much, you’re overweight,” Dr. Nicholas Ruthmann, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, told WDIV-TV. “All of that can come together and form a perfect storm and increase your risk on the big day of the big game for a heart attack then.”

Heart rates and blood pressure can rise during a game, particularly one as important as the Super Bowl. There may be times during Super Bowl LVI when fans of the Los Angeles Rams or Cincinnati, who wear loyalties on their sleeves, could experience too much stress.

“It’s real -- it’s an actual thing,” Dr. Sanjay Bhojraj, an interventional cardiologist in California, told The Orange County Register. “On days my team does great, I’m feeling so great, and when they don’t, I’m down in the dumps. It becomes like when something good or bad happens in your family.

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“That’s how powerfully it impacts your emotions.”

Dr. Michael Chan, another interventional cardiologist in Southern California, is a big Rams fan but also studies a football game’s effect on the heart.

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”With emotional stress, we get an increase in catecholamine surge and adrenaline, and that’s like the fight or flight response that we care about,” Chan told KABC-TV. “Close losses ... that creates heartache, and as a result, that can propagate increased stress, particularly for those people who are at higher risk.”

MedStar reported that within the last three years, it has responded to nearly 400 calls on Super Bowl Sunday for reports of abdominal pain, breathing problems, cardiac arrest, heart problems, stroke, overdoses and general sickness, the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth reported.

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So, how does a fan avoid a heart attack while watching the Super Bowl? Dr. John Ryan, medical director of the Cardiovascular Medicine Unit at University of Utah Health, offers five coping mechanisms for surviving Super Bowl Sunday.

• Take breaks with the players: Ryan said dehydration is common before a heart attack. When the players take a water break, fans should, too. Drinking water will not only keep you hydrated but also lower your alcohol intake.
• Take timeouts seriously: Fans may snack too much during games, particularly while chatting with friends, watching Super Bowl commercials or replaying exciting plays in their minds. Ryan recommends that fans use every timeout to refrain from snacking.
• Eat healthy: That sounds difficult at a Super Bowl party, which invariably includes chips, dips and fatty foods. Ryan recommends choosing one healthy snack to eat with the rest of your Super Bowl spread. Some veggies or baked chips should do the trick, he said.
• Take a walk: Ryan recommends that at the end of each quarter, fans should get up and walk around the room. Moving around will allow your food to digest, he said, and will cut down on the chances of overeating.
• Prepare for both results: Of course, your team is going to win the Super Bowl. Right? But what if they lose? Remember, “on any given Sunday ...” Sports are unpredictable, and it may be a cliche, but that is why teams play the games. Have a plan ready to cope if your team loses so you can avoid rash behavior after the final whistle, Ryan said.

Ryan said his father has a unique way of coping when Ireland played major rugby matches.

“My father will sit outside in the garden and then when the game is over, he will come in and ask what the result of the game was,” Ryan said. “And that’s his way of modifying his risk.”

Pro football fans do not roll that way. The point of the Super Bowl is to watch and enjoy.

“Cheer for your team, but understand it’s just a game,” Bhojraj told the Register. “Keep your emotions in check, unless, of course, your team is winning.”

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