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Passionate football fans not at increased stroke risk: study

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Press Trust of India London
Last Updated : May 31 2016 | 5:49 PM IST
Football fans, relax! Being excited for your favourite team is not likely to increase the risk of stroke, scientists have found, contradicting earlier research that suggests stress during crucial matches can trigger heart attacks or strokes.
Researchers at the Hospital de Egas Moniz in Portugal found that the number of strokes that occur on days with major matches is not significantly higher than on days when no football is played.
Many studies suggest that stress during crucial matches can trigger heart attacks or strokes in passionate football fans.
Researchers examined data from 2012 to 2015 to determine how high the risk actually is of enthusiasm at a football match triggering a stroke.
The study focused on hospital statistics around crucial matches of the three best Portuguese clubs.
As it turned out, there were 72 strokes on and after match days and 52 during comparable periods when no matches were played.
"The absolute number of strokes during football matches may have been higher but it was not an above-average outlier," said Claudia Borbinha from Hospital de Egas Moniz.
"Our data therefore furnishes no significant indications of a correlation between enthusiasm for football and increased risk of stroke," said Borbinha.

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First Published: May 31 2016 | 5:49 PM IST

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