A boy who suffers from a rare heart condition could die from laughing too hard, the Daily Mail reported.
Bradley Burhouse, 7, has been banned from laughing or exercising after being diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia – a dangerously high heart rate.
Becoming over-excited could cause Bradley’s heart to develop a severely abnormal rhythm and lead to sudden death.
People with tachycardia have resting heart rates of 120 to 200 beats a minute, which is twice the rate of an average person. The condition is caused by faulty electrical signals in the lower heart chambers, which override the heart’s normal rate and cause the ventricles to contract faster than normal.
Symptoms include chest pain, dizziness and fainting spells. While the condition can be corrected with drugs or an operation, it can be fatal if the heart goes into ventricular fibrillation, and the brain and muscles stop receiving blood from the heart.
Bradley was rushed to the hospital in May after collapsing while he was playing and joking around with his brother. He will have a preliminary exam in the next few weeks, so doctors can decide what course of action to take.
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