Russians and of heart

1991/03/01 Agirre, Jabier - Medikua eta OEEko kidea Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

Not suitable for people suffering from the heart.

This type of advertisements or similar can be found in numerous amusement parks, such as The black hole (a Russian made in all the dark), the corkscrew (a roller coaster like the sacacorto) and generally at the entrance gates of certain games or attractions, especially built for people who approach it in search of strong emotions.

We have also seen similar ads in horror films of recent times. But maybe because we have the opportunity to see it with enough assiduity (or correct for other reasons) the sense of danger or prevention is not so obvious and many people consider that ad to be a mere advertising, an excuse designed to raise the price of tickets.

And those ads have justification? This same question was asked by Dr. Pringle and Macfarlane, of the Cardiology Service of the Glasgow Faculty of Medicine, and later, together with Professor Stuart Cobbe, began to analyze the consequences of an impressive Russian at the heart of normal people. The results of these studies have been recently published in the British Medical Journal and as I found interesting, I will comment on these pages.

The experiment was centralised and located in one of Glasgow's Russian mountains. This Russian, known as boomerang, has a total duration of 94 seconds. It has a double heading like the sacacorto, where with centrifugal force it is possible that the transport train moves completely (that is, to decapitate) and stays like this. This Russian, of course, has such a forceful announcement in the sight of all.

Thirteen volunteers without previous heart disease accepted a trip in Boomerang. Using as a cardiac evaluation parameter the continuous recording of the electrocardiogram, 12 out of thirteen volunteers obtained a quality EKG. The results are impressive.

The average number of beats per minute before the tour was 69,8. While turning around, the average figure rose to 154.2, with a maximum and minimum heart rate of 180 and 130 respectively.

For the researchers, the most remarkable thing about the whole experiment was to confirm the speed with which the heart reached the maximum frequency: The maximum frequency reached by all volunteers in less than 8 seconds!

Taking into account the results obtained, it can be claimed that taking a spin on this Boomerang can be matched with skydiving, skiing and squash, at least with regard to its influence on the heart. And considering that the University of Glasgow lost the highlights of cardiac surgery teachers while performing squash, it is little wonder that the conclusions drawn from this experiment could awaken red light.

The general conclusion of the Glasgow group is that this kind of experience is very well supported by people with a healthy heart. But seeing the huge increase in oxygen consumption that generates a strong tachycardia of this type, it is logical to think that for a person with ischemic heart disease this emotion is too strong.

There is no doubt. According to Glasgow's results, this warning (not appropriate for people suffering from the heart) is not a joke, but a serious one.

As for horror films, it is much more difficult to quantify in a homogeneous way their effects on the heart. To begin with, each person has a very special and personal team. Therefore, before the same scene, the answers will be very different. As an example, it can be said that there are people who feel totally frightened by scenes with insects, while in others terror is ignited with supranatural motifs, occultisms or others.

Even though the possible cardiophyte thinks it is going to see the most shocking horror film, the process is much slower and the viewer can escape it, closing his eyes or covering his eyes with his hands or abandoning the cinema before finishing the film. However, in the roller coaster there is no way out and after reaching maximum heart rate in 8 seconds, there are still 86 left to enjoy or suffer.

There is no doubt that when the vehicle is completely left it feels extremely pleasant and that the adrenaline that circulates through the blood in the next few minutes will experience artifacts like Boomerang, Sakakortxoa, Zulo beltza or The Big Deep. That must always be the reason that your waiting queues are the longest.