Take Heart Sports Fans: Watching Sports Can be Deadly

Chicago Cubs fans can take heart in one thing: their GM and 2nd baseman have heart, literally and figuratively.

Following Mark DeRosa's "successful" surgical procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat on Thursday, the Cubs second sacker is doing so well that he is expected back in camp by Sunday.

Meanwhile, we all remember the story last year of Cubs GM Jim Hendry lying in a hospital bed, strapped to an EKG machine, while wrapping up the signing of veteran LHP Ted Lilly.

And where would the Cubs have been without Lilly last year? Watching the Brewers win the division, most likely.

I bring this up because in our awe and excitement of the game, we sometimes forget that athletes are human, too, and face many of the same medical issues as we do. Games that sometimes feel like life or death pale in comparison with the real life and death tragedies that happen with alarming regularity.

Hendry and DeRosa were fortunate, but not all are so lucky. Chinese Olympic gold medalist Luo Xuejuan was forced to retire because of a potentially fatal heart disease. Writer/runner Jim Fixx, and basketball stars Reggie Lewis, "Pistol Pete" Maravich and Hank Gathers all died suddenly of heart disease.

In fact, sudden cardiac death claims an estimated 250,000 lives in the U.S. each year.

And now, a new study presented by the New England Journal of Medicine states that the emotional stress of watching sporting events can increase heart problems. Although lack of sleep, overeating, drinking and smoking may play a role as well, doctors in the Munich study report that high-stakes sports showdowns can cause the same stress as earthquakes and hurricanes.

Yes, the rabid sports fan's emotional investment can trigger a heart attack, they say.

To make matters worse, some men put off seeking emergency treatment if they're watching a game.

So take heart, and calm down sports fans, it's just a game. It's advice that just might save your life.