This article is based off of UC Berkeley's Institute of East Asian Studies in account of their 2007 study of heart palpiations and their relation to those who enjoy Japanese culture. Their research of a 800 person study of those who include Japanese anime and manga concluded that enjoying such material can put one at risk for heart palpitation. Let's ask how such a thing can even exist, sure it seems far fetched so how come their study found out this strange study to be true? First we must look at anime, what is it exactly? For us common folk it seems strange but to those who enjoy it and include it in their lives on a daily basis it seems to be in the norm for them. Sure we have no definite answer as to why it increases ones risk for heart palpitations but we do have several theories. One theory is that they are in denial, being a social outcast of society has been know to increase heart risks due to their lack of social skills or social anxiety. Anxiety can have a huge influence on the human cardiovascular system due to the fact severe anxiety can lead to tachycardia. Another theory is lack of sun exposure, for the most dedicated fans of anime and manga don't leave the comfort of their computer screens displaying their favorite shows and "reads". Lack of sunlight can lead to a deficiency of vital vitamin D. Such a deficiency can lead to several health problems... one being a decrease in the hearts ability to pump sufficient blood to the rest of the body. So before you continue to watch the next installment of your favorite anime take this one thing into account. You're endangering yourself by putting yourself at a higher risk for a heart related health issue.

I contacted Dr. Robert Feinstein to get more information on this subject, this is what he wrote back.

Correlation between Japanese manga and cardiac disease

Thanks for the acknowledgment of our 2007 study where we studied the linkage between heart palpitations and other cardiac diseases to those who are partial to Japanese culture. My duties as a researcher in this study involved a small case study of 30 Asian American students at UC Berkeley who self reported themselves as experiencing chest pains and social anxiety. At such a prestigious university where the majority of our student body is Asian American, this drew some concern.

Was there some common factor between these students that lead them to experience these health problems? Why was this particular demographic prone to these particular ailments? Our first move was to locate some linking factor between Asian American students at UC Berkeley. We looked at various factors: genetics, diet, social interactions, and exercise. The correlational data surprised us. Upon learning more about the 30 students in our study, we located one common factor that spanned the boundaries of our research. Interestingly enough, this factor was that each of the 30 students associated themselves with an interest in Japanese anime and manga.

To confirm our findings that Japanese anime and manga can cause such health issues, we needed to delve deeper. We introduced a non-Asian American into the study - one who had never associated themselves with Japanese anime or manga. We exposed this individual to several reads of Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure and we encountered something "bizarre." Almost instantaneously this individual's blood pressure increased to 160/100. Additionally, the subject found himself unable to leave his room due to fear of social alienation to his new found interest in Japanese manga.

From this study we derived that there is a correlation between Japanese anime or manga and heart issues. However, the long term effects of these seemingly hazardous recreational affiliations is yet unknown. Current studies are being done by myself and other researchers here at UC Berkeley to determine such complications.

Best,

Dr. Robert Feinstein