Gaming May Trigger Heart Rhythm Problems in Susceptible Kids, Report Says
Doctors have long known that playing high-intensity sports can trigger serious heart rhythm problems in people with certain underlying heart conditions. Now, a new report suggests that playing electronic games — particularly war games — may be a trigger as well.
The report, from researchers in Australia, describes three unrelated cases of children who fainted while playing electronic war games. All of these children had underlying conditions that affect the heart's electrical system and can be life-threatening. But in two of the cases, the child's heart problem wasn't discovered until after they fainted while gaming.
The intense, emotionally-involved play of the games may result in the release of stress hormones that could be a trigger for heart rhythm problems in susceptible people, experts said. ...
In the first case, a 10-year-old boy suddenly lost consciousness at home after winning the war game he was playing, according to the report, published Sept. 19 in the New England Journal of Medicine. He soon regained consciousness and seemed alright. But later, the boy experienced a cardiac arrest at school due to a life-threatening condition known as ventricular fibrillation ...
The second case involved a 15-year-old boy who had previously undergone heart surgery to repair a hole in his heart that he was born with. The boy started to faint right as he was about to win the war game he was playing. ...
.... About two months later, the boy experienced another episode of ventricular tachycardia, again while he was about to win his game.
In the third case, an 11-year-old boy collapsed after having heart palpitations while "animatedly playing an electronic war game with a friend," the report said. ...