IT is here again. For one entire month — beginning June 11 — the world will be glued to the World Cup football matches. Malaysians are no exception. With the time difference of six hours between South Africa and Malaysia, expect to see football fans walking around looking like zombies. While rooting for favourite countries and watching every matchare musts for the fans, it can result in health issues such as inadequate sleep.
With the time difference, most of the matches will be played at either late at night or early hours of the morning. Fanatic fans are willing to stay-up to watch the match, regardless the hidden health danger.
Dr Nazreen Cheong Abdullah of Prince Court Medical Centre says World Cup fans are more likely to suffer from inadequate sleep since the matches are held at odd hours of the day. Though they are willing to tolerate the lack of sleep, it could lead to fatigue and loss of concentration, which could affect their work performance and worse, the ability to drive. “The disturbance of regular sleep pattern will disrupt the normal biological clock. Since they are awake at odd hours, it will also disrupt their meal times. Improper meal will cause indigestion which will worsen medical conditions like gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome and constipation.
“Lack of sleep also leads to dizziness, headache, blurring of vision and rise in blood pressure.” While it may be difficult for fans to curb their needs to watch every matches possible, it is better if they take steps to reduce the health risks, says Dr Nazreen. One of these is to select the more important matches to watch and avoid staying up every night.
It may be difficult for fans, but it helps reduce their sleeping problems.
“It is better to skip matches that are played in wee hours such as 1am or 2am. Otherwise try to catch some sleep in between the matches. The most important thing is to take a break and have a good sleep.” To reduce health risks, Dr Nazreen suggests that football fans exercise at least 30 minutes a day and to eat a balanced diet that includes at least five servings per day of fruit and vegetables. They also need to drink enough water and take health supplements.
“They should never rely too much on stimulants such as coffee to stay awake.” In addition to inadequate sleep, studies have found that watching World Cup matches can lead to heart attacks. A study done in 1998 found that on June 30, 1998 — the day England lost to Argentina — there was an increase of hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction. The number of patients increased to 25 per cent than average for that day of the year.
The spike in hospitalisations for heart attacks — about 55 more than expected — continued for two more days, suggesting the emotional turmoil of the loss and/or the drinking binges it provoked did not subside quickly.
Another study in 2002 found that there were incidents of sudden cardiac death in Switzerland during the 2002 World Cup compared to the same period a year earlier. It reported a 77 per cent increase in such fatalities among men and a 33 per cent among women. A paper published in the New England Journal Of Medicine found the number of cardiac emergencies in metropolitan Munich was 2.66 times greater during the 2006 World Cup compared to the weeks before and after the event.
KASMIAH MUSTAPHA
by nst.com.my
No comments:
Post a Comment