Research has shown that VIDEO games may cause heart attacks in undiagnosed children with heart conditions.
A few children are born with an irregular heart rhythm. This is known as an Arrhythmia. They don’t know until they have it tested.
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The condition affects around 2 million people in the UK. Around 25% of these people are unaware that they have it.
If properly diagnosed, most people with abnormal heart rhythms are able to live normal lives.
Arrhythmias can be fatal in some cases.
Experts in Australia have confirmed that adrenalin from playing a game can be fatal for children with this condition.
Multiplayer war games were found to be the most dangerous, causing the most heart attacks in children.
Scientists found that kids who had heart problems in their family were more susceptible to a fatal stroke while gaming.
Parents or carers who know thee are heart problems in the family or know their child has an irregular heart rhythm should think about safety precautions around gaming, the experts said.
The Heart Center for Children examined cases of children who died playing video games.
The scientists were shocked by the results and stressed the importance the study had in preventing heart attacks in children.
Co-investigator Doctor Christian Turner, of Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network Sydney said: “We already know that some children have heart conditions that can put them at risk when playing competitive sports.
“But we were shocked to discover that some patients were having life-threatening blackouts during video gaming.”
He said, “Video gaming was something that I thought would be an alternate’safety’ activity.”
“This is a really important discovery. We need to ensure everyone knows how important it is to get checked out when someone has had a blacking out episode in these circumstances.”
“Video gaming was something I previously thought would be an alternative ‘safe activity.’ This is a really important discovery. We need to ensure everyone knows how important it is to get checked out,”Dr. Christian said.
Dr Jonathan Skinner, the study’s co-author, said he was “staggered”To see the extent of the problem and how it has resulted in some children dying,
“All of the collaborators are keen to publicise this phenomenon so our colleagues across the globe can recognise it and protect these children and their families,”He concluded.
These findings were published in Heart Rhythm.
Previously, a study found that video gaming does not harm social development in boys — but girls who play struggle to make friends.
All children aged 8-10 who have difficulty making friends are more likely than not to play more than two years later.