Supporting winning sports teams boosts heart attack risk, study finds

The heart aattck risk was found to be particularly strong among men under 55. Photo / 123RF

Dedicated sports fans have long known supporting their team through thick and thin can come at a cost.

But few would have predicted that doing so might cause them to suffer a heart attack - particularly when their team wins.

That, however, is the principal insight of research that has now established a link between a club's sporting victory and increased risk of heart attacks among its fans.

The risk was found to be particularly strong among men under 55. Female fans appeared unaffected.

Researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute analysed admissions data for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) - a serious type of heart attack - the day after the Montreal Canadiens played.

The Canadiens are the oldest continuous professional ice hockey team in the world and their fans are renowned for their passion.

The researchers found that in men under 55, a home victory was associated with a 40 per cent increase in STEMI admissions.

The association between losing games and hospital admissions was not statistically significant. Researchers were unable to explain why the successful matches seemed more likely to prompt heart attacks. They noted, however, that other studies had shown strong emotional responses may influence heart attack susceptibility, suggesting watching a victory may be more emotionally significant than a defeat.

The fact that women appeared medically unaffected by the result of the game was particularly striking as previous research had shown they were more susceptible to mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia, which can lead to heart attack.