With the global hit of "Avatar", consumers who have watched it all exclaimed "satisfying". However, after enjoying the audio-visual feast of the movie, some health issues also come uninvited. Be careful that the movie is too stimulating for your heart to bear. An overly intense movie can increase the burden on the heart. Even normal people may experience arrhythmia or even sudden heart disease; while those with heart disease may worsen their condition.
Due to the flickering screen in the cinema, the intense and tense movie plot, and the high-frequency surround sound, these factors may trigger stress responses in the human body. Studies have shown that stress responses can quickly increase the secretion of cortisol and adrenaline in the body, thus causing arterial contraction and blood pressure rise, which is very harmful to the heart. Moreover, those thrilling fighting scenes are enough to make viewers who already have a bit of arrhythmia feel greatly affected.
Clinically, we have found that some patients, especially women, have nothing wrong in daily life, but suddenly encounter a physical or psychological stress, resulting in myocardial ischemia, manifested as myocardial infarction-like changes, and even leading to heart failure. But coronary angiography examination finds no problem. We call such patients stress-induced cardiomyopathy. In European and American countries, these cardiac changes caused by mental stress and stress response are called "broken heart syndrome."
For cardiovascular disease patients, it is more dangerous under stressful environments. Coronary heart disease patients, when they see the tense part of the movie, the adrenaline in their body will significantly increase, causing sympathetic excitement, vascular contraction, leading to insufficient myocardial blood supply, some people will experience myocardial ischemia; at the same time, the myocardial contractility decreases, possibly inducing or aggravating heart dysfunction. Hypertension patients' blood pressure will significantly rise when stimulated. "Noise is also a kind of mental stimulation, which can cause stress responses, leading to hormone system secretion disorder, especially the strong noise in the cinema, which is very unsuitable for heart disease patients."
Most movies nowadays last about an hour and a half, plus the pre-roll advertisements and waiting time, people often sit in the cinema for more than two hours. To not miss any exciting scenes, many people hold their urine, which also enhances the stress response. Another issue in cinemas is the closed environment with poor air circulation. Normal people will feel suffocated if staying too long, and heart disease patients are more likely to experience oxygen deficiency, thus causing myocardial ischemia and stress-induced blood pressure rise.
When we diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease patients, we particularly emphasize the importance of changing lifestyle habits, such as maintaining a good mood, positive attitude, avoiding tension, and adopting a low-fat diet. In addition, we hope they avoid mental tension and stress as much as possible, do not get too excited emotionally, especially avoid watching intense movies or TV shows, and keep the TV volume down.
Finally, Yu Danqing suggests that if you experience symptoms like rapid heartbeat or palpitations while watching a movie, try to relax yourself, take deep breaths to relieve the symptoms, and it would be best to leave the cinema quickly and rest in a quieter, well-ventilated place. If the symptoms cannot be effectively controlled, it is recommended to go to the hospital for a check-up.