On the flip side, the palpable excitement that the World Cup provokes usually results in health casualties, especially amongst the hypertensive fans ,and at times, with some fatal consequences.
But the fact is, there need not be any such incidence at all if the following preventive measures can be strictly adhered to by hypertensive fans.
1.Avoid taking stimulants to stay awake
Depending on your country’s time zone, you may end up watching the World Cup live late at night. Therefore, as an hypertensive patient and fan of the beautiful game, the first thing you want to avoid is taking stimulants (e.g. Coffee, Caffeine derivatives). These will only aggravate your hypertension!
Instead you can set your bedside alarm clock to wake you up or ask your darling wife or neighbor to kindly wake you up at the time.
2.Avoid the impulse of crowd effects
Do not watch the matches in social or public places (e.g. pubs, restaurants, viewing centers) where people talk carelessly, smoke and drink alcohol.
Careless Comments: Here, nobody knows who you are talk less of your health condition hence they will freely pass comments on your favorite teams and players and these may not sit well with you. In such places, nothing adds more to the World Cup fun than the sight of a worked-up fan!
To them, it’s all fun; but to you, it could mean something else, something that could be fatal. Watch it – avoid such places!
Smoking: Although there are few public places that allow smoking these days, nonetheless, always remember that active or passive smoking is very dangerous for your hypertension. For your own good, avoid such places.
Boozing: The World Cup is probably the best time for breweries and beer parlors as record sales are made at this time – at the expense of people’s health. But who cares? For you as an hypertensive fan, watching the World Cup in public places where alcohol is served can tempt you to join the crowd. You certainly don’t want to be left out of all the excitement, free-for-alls, raucous laughters and laissez-faire going on!
What to do? Run for your dear life, avoid such places like a plague.
3.Enjoy the World Cup with your loved ones
For you, the best and safe way to enjoy the World Cup is from the cosy comfort of your home with your loved ones or pet by your side. So you get to avoid all the beer talks, funny comments, smoking and drinking of the other places.
Besides, your loved ones know your health condition and will not do anything to jeopardize it. Instead they will be the ones to caution you from over celebrating or getting angry because Lionel Messi or Wayne Rooney just missed a clear goal!
4.Avoid watching penalty shoot-outs
For the hypertensive fan, watching live penalty shoot-outs on television is akin to feeding an earthworm with salt. Most of the incidences of fatal cardiac arrests during World Cup matches come from watching the dreaded penalties.
Penalty shoot-out is like the toss of a coin, a pure game of luck for which any team can win. Roberto Baggio and Diego Maradona, two legends of the game, have been known to miss penalty kicks with devastating health consequences on their fans worldwide! In fact, like passive smoking, it has been said that the health effects of watching penalties on fans on such big occasions is more dangerous than on the players taking the penalties. Even fans with clean bill of health have developed hypertension from watching live penalties.
So, when any of the 2010 World Cup matches is to be decided by penalties (after 120 minutes draw situation), your best bet as a hypertensive fan is to switch off the T.V and radio. Go to sleep whilst praying that mother luck shines on your team.
Safely, the next day (when all tension must have gone),you can ask your neighbor or colleague in the office for the result or read it in the newspaper yourself. PLEASE NEVER EVER WATCH LIVE PENALTIES IN YOUR CONDITION DURING THE WORLD CUP.
5.Avoid over celebration of goals
Even in your state of inertia, your blood pressure is already high, knocking hard on the walls of your arteries and wanting to break them apart! If this is the case, can you then afford any more physical exertion of energy?
Oh dear, you certainly do not need to dance naked on the streets or jump on the roof of a moving vehicle screaming and hooting in wild celebration of your team’s victory! For you and other hypertensive fans out there, please do not over celebrate only to wake up in the morgue the next day!
6.Remember to maintain your diet and your next appointment with your doctor
Do not be carried away by all the felicitations and excitements that comes with the World Cup to the extent of throwing caution to the wind on your diet and appointments with your physician. Very Important – Never ever sacrifice an appointment date with your physician for a World Cup match.
Your doctor’s appointments have been carefully timed with your drug usage and any miss of a check-up appointment will have deleterious effect on your health, sooner than later. Instead, if you must, you can use the remaining one week before June 10, 2010 to consult your doctor and request for a possible change of appointment date (in the event that the previous date is clashing with your team’s World Cup Match date).
The World Cup is a period of great fun and excitement, no doubt. It comes once in four years. However, always remember that it is just for 30 days and so, your life needs not end with it, at least, for the sake of your loved ones who will miss you so dearly.
Your health should therefore come first in all circumstances! Never compromise your health for anything, please. For the hypertensive fan, your motto should be: Stay Healthy, Watch Safely as advised and live longer (to watch many, many, more World Cups).
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