Associations of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality in the populations watching major football tournaments: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

The people's game: evolutionary perspectives on the behavioural neuroscience of football fandom

Association football (soccer) is the world's most popular sport. Transculturally, fans invest significant resources following their teams, suggesting underlying psychological universals with evolutionary origins. Although evolutionary science can help illuminate the ultimate causes of human behaviour, there have been limited modern evolutionary perspectives on football fandom. In this paper, we consider evolutionary perspectives on football fandom from a behavioural neuroscientific standpoint. We discuss how the appeal of football may arise through the low-scoring and highly variable outcomes of games; we relate this to the neuroscience of reward prediction errors and motivation. We highlight recent research on the psychobiological responses to ritual, including endorphin release, which may reduce anxiety and facilitate group bonding. We discuss the prosocial and anxiety-sublimating effects of the matchday ritual and argue that football may be a special case whereby ritual behaviour does have a small effect on the outcome of interest. We discuss the psychology of ingroup and outgroup effects of fandom and argue that, although resource scarcity can sometimes lead to aggression, that larger inter-group effects can be positive. We comment on the socioemotional developmental aspects of football fandom, and note how group identification may lead to displays of sacrifice. We finish with a discussion of whether, in the era of social prescribing, football could be seen as a psychiatrist's tool. We conclude with suggestions on how the positive aspects of football can be emphasised through evolutionary perspectives, and how future research on football fandom may inform evolutionary understanding of humans writ large.

Healthy Minds for Healthy Hearts: Tackling Stress-Induced Cardiac Events During the FIFA World Cup 2022

Millions of people are looking forward to the biggest event this year "FIFA World Cup 2022" taking place in the state of Qatar. This event is an opportunity for people around the world to socialize, connect, celebrate, and enjoy watching football matches. However, the emotional stress experienced by football players and fans during a such major sport event can sometimes result in unfavorable physiological responses that can adversely affect the heart leading to adverse cardiac consequences. In this mini-review, we summarized the evidence and pathophysiology of stress-induced cardiac events during football games, and the potential strategies to prevent stress-induced cardiac events during the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Biomechanical Analysis and Training Method Research on Head Shot Strength of Football Players

With the development of intelligent sports in China and the rapid improvement of the strength of colleges and universities, the reform of traditional football players' header shooting training methods is becoming more and more urgent in order to solve some problems in the development of sports and speed up the intelligent training of Chinese football players. Based on this, this paper studies the biomechanical analysis and training method based on the integration of header strength data of football players. A dynamic header tracking model of football players based on a local search algorithm is designed. The data collection is realized from the aspects of athletes' header shooting training, skill improvement, physical consumption, and trajectory. The biological data of header shooting power is comprehensively analyzed and evaluated by using a local search algorithm. The results show that the training system based on a local search algorithm has the advantages of high feasibility, high data accuracy, and fast response speed. It can effectively conduct accurate guidance and improve the shooting accuracy according to the biological characteristics of header shooting intensity. This paper studies the biological analysis and training method of header strength of football players based on a local search algorithm. This has certain reference significance for accelerating the construction of intelligent training of Chinese football players.

Anxiety, Mental Stress, and Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Epidemiology, Possible Mechanisms and Future Research

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in affluent societies, which underscores the need to identify persons at risk. The etiology of SCA is however complex, with predisposing and precipitating factors interacting. Although anxiety and mental stress have been linked to SCA for decades, their precise role and impact remain unclear and the biological underpinnings are insufficiently understood. In this paper, we systematically reviewed various types of observational studies (total n = 20) examining the association between anxiety or mental stress and SCA. Multiple methodological considerations challenged the summarizing and interpretation of the findings. For anxiety, the overall picture suggests that it predisposes for SCA in physically healthy populations (unadjusted OR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.06-5.59; n = 3). However, in populations at risk for SCA (n = 4), associations were heterogeneous but not significant. Anxiety may partly predispose to SCA by contributing to other risk factors such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus via mechanisms such as unhealthy lifestyle and metabolic abnormalities. Mental stress appears to precipitate SCA, presumably by more directly impacting on the cardiac ion channels that control the heart's electrical properties. This may lead to ventricular fibrillation, the arrhythmia that underlies SCA. To advance this field of research, experimental studies that unravel the underlying biological mechanisms are deemed important, and most easily designed for mental stress as a precipitating factor because of the short timeframe. These proof-of-concept studies should examine the whole pathway from the brain to the autonomic nervous system, and eventually to cardiac ion channels. Ultimately, such studies may facilitate the identification of persons at risk and the development of novel preventive strategies.

Are Die-Hard Football or Other Sports Fans at Risk of Cardiovascular Events?

Trigger factors such as earthquakes, war, and terrorism have been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular events in different studies. Similarly, strong emotions and psychological stress have been associated with myocardial infarction, symptomatic arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. Die-hard soccer, rugby, football, and baseball fans seem to be at risk of cardiac events, particularly in individuals with prior history of coronary artery disease. Transient hemodynamic changes, endothelial dysfunction, and an overwhelming sympathetic nervous system stimulation appear to affect cardiac hemostasis creating a procoagulant and arrhythmogenic environment. High-risk behaviors such as tobacco abuse and binge drinking appear to contribute to this risk generating a proinflammatory state characterized by elevated levels of endothelin-1 and overexpression of sCD40L, sVCAM-1, MCP-1, and TNF-alpha. The outcome of the game and unexpected results, especially among fans of the defeated team, seem to further correlate with adverse cardiovascular effects.