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Wednesday, November 16, 2005For the study, Koschyk and his colleagues enlisted the help of 37 men and 18 women, average age 28. Heart rates were recorded before, during and after a roller coaster ride at Expedition GeForce in Holiday Park Hassloch, Germany. The ride involved a 120-second journey, ascending to 62 meters above the starting point, followed by a free fall and changes in gravity of 6 G in four seconds, with a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour. Mean at-rest heart rates were 91 beats per minute, or normal. After one minute on the ride, the average maximum heart rates jumped to an average 153 beats per minute. Women had higher average heart rates (165 beats per minute) than men (148.5 beats per minute). Such an increase could cause arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, in some individuals. That, in turn, could spur a more serious problem, Koschyk said. In this study, nearly half of the participants had irregular heartbeats or significant sinus arrhythmia after the ride came to a stop. One participant had an episode of atrial fibrillation, an irregularity in the heart's two upper chambers. Emotional stress appeared to be a major contributing factor for the abnormalities. Might want to leave those roller coaster rides to the young ones. posted by Sydney on 11/16/2005 08:30:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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