As the yuletide season approaches,
researchers in Sweden have alerted the world community about numerous
events around Christmas and New Year, saying that acute experience of
anger, anxiety, sadness, grief, and stressful activities associated with
Christmas increase the risk of a heart attack.
According to the
findings of an observational study published in the ‘British Medical
Journal (BMJ), a person’s risk of heart attack spikes during most
holidays and peaks at around 10p.m on Christmas Eve. Compared with days
in the two weeks before and after Christmas, the risk of heart attack
was 15 per cent higher on Christmas Day and 37 per cent higher on
Christmas Eve. Similarly, the study found a 20 per cent increased risk
for heart attack on New Year’s Day, and a 12 per cent increase during
Midsummer, a mid-June Swedish holiday with vaguely pagan overtones
during which the drinking and dancing never stop and the sun never sets.
The
senior author, Dr. David Erlinge, who is head of the Cardiology
Department at Lund University in Sweden, said that the holidays have
special stresses — travel, difficult relatives or friends, complicated
preparations for guests, extra physical activity and, of course, eating
and drinking too much. According to Erlinge: “Every heart attack for 16
years in the whole country is in it. It’s reality,”, he said, adding
that it was a big study, not a sample.
The scientists believe
Christmas Eve (and other holidays) are times when people experience
emotional stress, and that likely affects heart health — although they
are only speculating. “We do not know for sure but emotional distress
with acute experience of anger, anxiety, sadness, grief, and stress
increases the risk of a heart attack. Excessive food intake, alcohol,
long distance traveling may also increase the risk,” Erlinge said. The
researchers said people could avoid unnecessary stress, take care of
elderly relatives with risk of heart problems and avoid excessive eating
and drinking during this period. The research team studied 283,014
heart attacks between 1998 and 2013 that were documented in a registry
that included the date and time when symptoms have started.
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Christmas Raises Risk Of Heart Attack - Researchers
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Christmas Raises Risk Of Heart Attack - Researchers
As the yuletide season approaches,
researchers in Sweden have alerted the world community about numerous
events around Christmas and New Year, saying that acute experience of
anger, anxiety, sadness, grief, and stressful activities associated with
Christmas increase the risk of a heart attack.
According to the
findings of an observational study published in the ‘British Medical
Journal (BMJ), a person’s risk of heart attack spikes during most
holidays and peaks at around 10p.m on Christmas Eve. Compared with days
in the two weeks before and after Christmas, the risk of heart attack
was 15 per cent higher on Christmas Day and 37 per cent higher on
Christmas Eve. Similarly, the study found a 20 per cent increased risk
for heart attack on New Year’s Day, and a 12 per cent increase during
Midsummer, a mid-June Swedish holiday with vaguely pagan overtones
during which the drinking and dancing never stop and the sun never sets.
The
senior author, Dr. David Erlinge, who is head of the Cardiology
Department at Lund University in Sweden, said that the holidays have
special stresses — travel, difficult relatives or friends, complicated
preparations for guests, extra physical activity and, of course, eating
and drinking too much. According to Erlinge: “Every heart attack for 16
years in the whole country is in it. It’s reality,”, he said, adding
that it was a big study, not a sample.
The scientists believe
Christmas Eve (and other holidays) are times when people experience
emotional stress, and that likely affects heart health — although they
are only speculating. “We do not know for sure but emotional distress
with acute experience of anger, anxiety, sadness, grief, and stress
increases the risk of a heart attack. Excessive food intake, alcohol,
long distance traveling may also increase the risk,” Erlinge said. The
researchers said people could avoid unnecessary stress, take care of
elderly relatives with risk of heart problems and avoid excessive eating
and drinking during this period. The research team studied 283,014
heart attacks between 1998 and 2013 that were documented in a registry
that included the date and time when symptoms have started.
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