The anger that football fans feel when watching their team being defeated could prove deadly, a leading doctor said today.
The warning by Dr Laurence Gerlis follows England’s humiliating European Championship defeat by Iceland.
“Being an England fan is always stressful but watching performances as frustrating as the Iceland game can be devastating for some people,” said the Bond Street-based practitioner.
“I have often seen an increase in angina and heart attacks associated with watching football — and especially with defeats.
“The rise in heart rate and blood pressure, plus elevated cholesterol because of alcohol damaging the liver, can be a fatal combination. It has been observed at previous tournaments.
“Half the population are still livid about the referendum result and might not be able to take much more.”
Dr Gerlis — who runs Samedaydoctor, the UK’s largest independent GP practice, with eight clinics — also advised anguished England fans: “There are ways to divert the anger and frustration we all feel — mainly sublimating them via friendship and shared suffering but most importantly by humour.”