An article in Scientific Americanlooks at recent research into examining the benefits of expressive writing:”Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.”While this week it was also reported that football from a spectator’s perspective can be a real health hazard.The article quoted a number of reports showing the effects of stresses in the passionate supporter. “Researchers at the University of Birmingham, in central England, suggested in all seriousness that penalty shootouts be scrapped “on public health grounds” after discovering that the number of heart attacks in Britain rose by 25 percent on the day England lost to Argentina on kicks in the 1998 World Cup.”We advise our patients not to watch important matches after a heart attack or if they are considered to be a high cardiac risk,” said Herve Douard, a cardiologist at the University Hospital Clinic in Bordeaux.Counter-intuitively, football-related violence seems to rise when a team wins, rather than when it loses, says Vas Sivarajasingam of Cardiff University Wales, who looked at the city’s emergency room admissions when the national side played.”