Manchester United Fan's Addisonian Crisis Spotted While Doctors Watched Match

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Academic Journal
Main Category: Endocrinology
Also Included In: Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 20 Dec 2011 - 5:00 PST

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The Christmas issue of bmj.com describes how doctors in Manchester identified a rare condition in a football fan after they heard about her unusual symptoms whilst watching her team Manchester United play.

Near the end of high-profile matches at Old Trafford, Manchester United's home ground, the 58 year old woman would suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, palpitations, light headedness, and a sense of impending doom.

Her symptoms were hardly noticeable when her team played against lower league teams of the opposition, however during important games when the outcome of the match was in question until the very last minute, her symptoms were particularly severe. The doctors' diagnosis was addisonian crisis, a manifestation of Addison's disease, a life threatening disease in which the adrenal glands produce insufficient quantities of the stress hormone cortisol that can result in very low blood pressure and even coma.

Given that the main symptoms include lethargy, low mood and fatigue, addison's disease is very difficult to diagnose as these symptoms often affect 'healthy' people from all walks of life and are also frequently reported in many other chronic conditions.

The authors state:

"We believe that our patient was having difficulty mounting an appropriate physiological cortisol response during the big games and therefore we present this as the first description of Manchester United induced addisonian crisis."

The start of the 2011/12 football season started at the same time as the woman's therapy, which involves taking two daily doses of medication at 3:30pm and 8:30pm, i.e. mid-way through afternoon and evening matches. She has managed to attend all games of her favorite team without any adverse effects.

Fortunately for her, she was on holiday when United lost 6-1 against their local rivals Manchester City in October, but by then doctors had refined her therapy and she remained free of symptoms, even during the recent tense games of her team playing against Sunderland and FC Basel.

Written by Petra Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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