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Dealing with 'Fan-xiety'
FOX 26 Reporter Damali Keith has more after speaking with a doctor.
HOUSTON - Certainly, you've heard of and maybe even experienced anxiety, but what about "fan-xiety"? It's where fans suffer a real medical emergency when they get too excited cheering on their team, including heart attack or stroke.
With the Astros battling it out in the ALCS, don't let that happen to you.
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Sometimes screams for sports teams can be heard blocks away. Whenever cheering happens, some things also happen to an excited fans body.
"Their stress level goes up. Their emotions peak. Their blood pressure and heart rate go up," explains Memorial Hermann Hospital Cardiologist Dr. Majid Basit who says root, root, rooting for a sports team could give you much more than a sore throat. If you have undiagnosed heart disease, including a blockage, it could give you fanxiety.
"As your blood pressure goes up, the flow of blood across that blockage increases exponentially and then that can cause the blockage, that cholesterol plaque to rip open and cause that stroke or heart attack," Dr. Basit explains.
"I haven't had that yet," laughs sports fan Melissa Hamrick who's been known to turn up the volume on her screams when her team is on the tube.
"You can ask my husband, sometimes he has to leave the room," Hamrick laughs.
"I don't cheer that hard. No definitely not. I don't go that insane with it. Sometimes it's hard to watch the games and stuff. It's so stressful, but not like that," says Astros fan Adam Easterling.
When you're cheering on the home team if you feel yourself getting too excited, pay close attention if you start suffering these symptoms.
"Shortness of breath, chest tightness, heaviness on your chest, palpitations, dizziness. All those things are warning signs something bad could be happening inside you," explains Dr. Basit.
With that in mind Houston visitor Nasser, who's actually from Sweden, plans to celebrate a little softer.
"Whoo hoo," he says quietly and laughs.
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Who knew you needed to be in shape to watch the game, but Dr. Basit says only "a small number" of fans go from cheering to trouble, experiencing a medical emergency.
So here are the doctor's orders.
"Getting together with friends and family and rooting for your team is a great way to have enjoyment in your life, but just be careful," Dr. Basit said.