Playing Video Games for Too Long Can Kill You

David Mittleman

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You may think that weight gain is the worst health risk associated with playing video games too often or for too long. However, there are even worse possible repercussions than gaining weight from sitting in front of a video game console for hours at a time. Sadly, a 20-year-old "Xbox addict" recently died after playing his games for up to 12 hours at a time.

Chris Staniforth was an aspiring computer programmer who recently received an opportunity to study at Leicester University in the U.K. when he suddenly died from a Pulmonary Embolism. A Pulmonary Embolism can occur if someone sits in the same position for extended periods of time, but usually affects passengers on long-haul flights. Now medical experts fear that young people who stay glued to their video games for hours at a time may face a similar risk.

Chris's father, David, recently launched a campaign to warn other young people and their parents of the risks of playing video games for extended periods of time. He admits that games may be fun to play, but once you start it's hard to stop. He wants other young people to know that playing games for too long at one time can kill. According to the coroner's report, Chris complained of a low heart rate before collapsing and dying. His father added that Chris liked playing Halo online against other gamers across the world.

Unfortunately, Chris isn't the first gamer to suffer from extended play. In fact, reports of gamers collapsing in Asia after playing for 15 hours at a time are fairly common, and in 2005 a South Korean gamer died after playing online games for three days straight without a break.