Abu Dhabi doctors warn heart attack risk greater during the big match

ABU DHABI // Viewing a stressful sports match can increase the risk of having a heart attack, cardiologists have warned.

During the recent Fifa World Cup final, on July 13, a 42-year-old man who was watching the game on television suffered a heart attack and needed to be treated Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC).

Although he has recovered now, doctors say the game caused his blood pressure to shoot up, which induced the heart attack.

“Viewing a stressful match, like the World Cup final, could trigger an acute coronary syndrome — like a heart attack — especially in patients who are already at higher risk, such as those with hypertension and diabetes,” said Dr Abdulmajeed Al Zubaidi, the cardiologist who was on call the evening of the World Cup and the chief medical officer at SKMC.

“While there are many other factors that could be attributed to heart attacks, such as lack of sleep, or forgetting to take medication, it’s important that the public is aware of their cardiovascular risk and take active steps to reduce or manage it.”.

A 2008 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, based on research during the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany, found that a stressful football match more than doubles the risk of an acute cardiovascular event, and that preventive measures are urgently needed, particularly in men with known coronary heart disease.

In 2013, the Abu Dhabi Health Service (Seha) rolled out its life-saving Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) treatment to all its hospitals.

There are now four catheterisation laboratory providing Primary PCI within the Seha network.

A new partnership with Ambulance Services is being explored, which will mean that any patients who has had a heart attack is driven straight to the nearest Seha institution with such facilities.