Bingo 'more stressful than high-pressure jobs'

People in stressful careers get more worked up playing bingo than coping with challenges at work, according to new research.

The game sent pulses racing for people from eight walks of life including a policewoman, a barrister, a doctor, a banker and a journalist.

British scientists monitored their heart rates during a typical working day, according to the study for Britain's National Bingo Game Association, then compared the results to those for an evening at the bingo hall.

The professionals, particularly the policewoman and the doctor, maintained steady heart rates at work, but bingo caused a sharp rise.

The study also tested a full-time mother, who had the highest heart rate of all the subjects during the day, and she also responded to the game.

Psychologist Dr David Lewis said: "Bingo sets pulses racing in two ways. First, with everybody in the hall out to win, the friendly competition creates an electric tension.

"Second, because we feel physically relaxed and emotionally aroused by the game simultaneously, we feel far more alert and alive than in many other activities.

"The result, as the experiment clearly demonstrated, is that even professionals capable of keeping their cool under the most difficult and even dangerous of situations cannot control their rising excitement when a new game begins."