澳大利亚科学家研究发现，重金属音乐会上人们伴随快速的节奏头部剧烈摇摆有害健康。专家提醒，频繁参加类似活动可能对人的头部和颈部造成损伤。这个不同寻常的研究结果发表在最新一期《英国医学杂志》上。澳大利亚新南威尔士大学教授德克兰•巴顿和安德鲁•麦金托什在亲自参加了两场硬摇滚和重金属音乐会后发现，摇滚音乐会上的乐迷们大多看起来神志不清且行动不协调；乐迷们在音乐会上听的那些歌曲平均每分钟有146拍，如果伴随这种音乐进行头部摇晃运动超过75度角，便会产生头痛和眩晕症。

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.