時尚雙語:聽重金屬音樂時劇烈搖擺頭部有害健康
澳大利亞科學家研究發現，重金屬音樂會上人們伴隨快速的節奏頭部劇烈搖擺有害健康。專家提醒，頻繁參加類似活動可能對人的頭部和頸部造成損傷。這個不同尋常的研究結果發表在最新一期《英國醫學雜誌》上。澳大利亞新南威爾士大學教授德克蘭•巴頓和安德魯•麥金託什在親自參加了兩場硬搖滾和重金屬音樂會後發現，搖滾音樂會上的樂迷們大多看起來神志不清且行動不協調；樂迷們在音樂會上聽的那些歌曲平均每分鐘有146拍，如果伴隨這種音樂進行頭部搖晃運動超過75度角，便會產生頭痛和眩暈症。
Warning: head-banging to Metallica, Motorhead or Megadeth could be hazardous to your health.
So concludes the first-ever study, published yesterday, of thefin-de-siecle dance style in which afficionados of heavy metal jerk their heads up and down to a fast and furious beat.
Declan Patton and Andrew McIntosh at Australia's School for Risk and Safety Sciences at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, attended hard rock and heavy metal concerts to observe head-banging techniques.
They then worked up a biomechanical analysis, culminating in a "theoretical head-banging model".
In their offbeat study, published by the British Medical Journal, the pair say that thrashing about like an electro-shocked rabbit may cause similar effects to whiplash.
A typical death-metal rhythm of 146 beats-per-minute or faster, combined with head-banging arcs of at least 45 degrees, is "predicted to cause mild head and neck injury", they say.
With faster tempos and wider arcs, "there are definite risks of mild traumatic brain injury".
Anecdotal evidence also points to the potential health hazards of thrash rock, the paper says.
"In 2005, doctors believed that Terry Balsamo, the guitarist from the Bank Evanescence, experienced a stroke from head banging," it notes.
So what can be done?
Metal fans could wear a neck brace while head-banging - or listen instead to Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, Enya and Richard Clayderman, joke Patton and McIntosh.
To teens who still prefer Ultra Vomit to easy listening, the paper offers a practical example of what to avoid.
It applies the "theoretical head-banging model" to cartoon wunderkinder Beavis and Butt-head, dancing to The Ramones' I Wanna Be Sedated at 164 beats per minute.
The range of motion of Beavis' head is about 45 degrees, which is below the injury threshold.
For Butt-head, though, the prospects are not so great.
He head-bangs with a range of motion of about 75 degrees, with the risk of "level one" head injuries - headaches and dizziness.
