Watching a big soccer match can strain a fan's heart - not just figuratively, but literally¹, German researchers reported on Wednesday.

After studying the effects of matches during the 2006 World Cup, they concluded that, for German men, the risk of having a heart attack or some other serious heart problem was more than three times higher on days when their team played. It was 82 percent higher for German women.

Cardiac emergencies usually occurred within two hours of the start of a match, Dr Ute Wilbert-Lampen of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and colleagues found.

"Viewing a stressful soccer match more than doubles the risk of an acute cardiovascular event," they wrote in their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers said other emotionally turbulent sporting events could likely produce the same effect.

To gauge² the impact, the Wilbert-Lampen team looked at 4,279 medical records from the seven days the German team played, the 24 days when matches involved teams from other countries, and 242 other days in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Only Germans found to have some heart problem were included in the tally³.

"Six of the seven games in which the German team participated were associated with an increase in the number of cardiac emergencies over the number during the control period," they wrote.

The largest number occurred during a June 30 quarterfinal in which Germany defeated Argentina in a penalty shoot-out. The next game, Germany's semi-final loss to Italy, produced almost as many heart attacks.

In contrast, Germany's match against Portugal for third place, produced no spike⁴ in heart-related problems. Germany defeated Portugal 3-1.

"Apparently⁵, of prime importance for triggering a stress-induced event is not the outcome of a game - a win or a loss - but rather the intense strain and excitement experienced during the viewing of a dramatic match, such as one with a penalty shoot-out," the researchers wrote.

德国研究人员于本周三称，球迷在观看重大足球比赛时真的会“伤心”——这并不仅是一种比喻的说法，事实确实如此。

研究人员对2006年世界杯赛造成的“后果”进行分析后断定，德国男性突发心脏病或其它严重心脏疾病的几率在德国队比赛期间高出三倍，女性的发病率也比平时增加了82%。

德国慕尼黑大学的乌特•威尔伯特-拉姆彭博士以及同事们发现，球赛开始后两个小时通常是心脏病的高发阶段。

研究人员在《新英格兰医学》期刊上发表的研究报告中写道：“观看激烈的足球比赛会使突发心脏病的风险增加一倍多。”

研究人员称，让人情绪波动较大的其它比赛也会导致这种情况的发生。

为了将这种影响量化，威尔伯特-拉姆彭博士的研究小组对2003年、2005年和2006年德国队的七个比赛日、其它国家的24个比赛日以及242个其它日子的共4279个病历纪录进行了分析。

研究记录仅限于出现心脏问题的德国人。

研究人员在报告中写道：“在德国队的七场比赛中，有六场比赛进行时的突发心脏病病例多于其它控制阶段。”

其中发病数最多的是6月30日德国点球战胜阿根廷的一场四分之一决赛。在接下来德国队被意大利击败的一场半决赛中，也有很多人心脏病发作。

而在德国队与葡萄牙队争夺季军的比赛中，心脏病发病数却没有增长。当时，德国以3比1战胜葡萄牙。

研究人员写道：“显然，引发心脏病的最重要因素并不是比赛的输赢，而是在观看激烈比赛时的紧张情绪和兴奋心情，比如看点球决定胜负的比赛就容易导致心脏病发作。”

Vocabulary: 

penalty shoot-out:点球大战