This is important for you to know. Several medical studies now show pretty convincingly that people who have heart attacks around holidays – especially between December 25 and New Year’s Day – are more likely to die than people who have heart attacks at other times of the year.

   • According to Richard N Fogoros, MD – A Board Certified Physician – The increase in cardiac mortality during holidays is not huge, just about 5% – but it is statistically significant, and it has been confirmed now in several population studies.

   • Several investigators have tried to figure out why this is the case, and theories about them include :

   1) The onset of cold weather as harmatan begins.

   2) Reduced hospital staffing during Christmas holidays.

   3) Increased depression and emotional stress, associated with the desire to meet up with the Joneses, and please our families.

   4) Over indulgence in fatty food, protein(chicken) and alcohol.

   5) Delay in seeking medical help, with the holiday-mood-relatives saying “it will pass away”.

Now what is the real reason for increased heart attack during holidays?

Nobody can prove today exactly why heart attack mortality increases during holidays, but I have taken the liberty to explain the reasons for the postulation above.

   i) Onset of cold weather and reduced hospital staffing cannot be the reason for increased heart attack, during holidays, because during Easter and Sallah holidays which occur during hot season, studies also show that heart attacks also increase.

   ii) Depression and emotional stress during holidays are the main culprits – especially among older people for whom the holidays can invoke a sense of loss for happier times, or for loved ones who are no longer alive. These stress of losses are known risk factors for heart attacks, and likely explains at least some of the increased risk.

   iii) The added stress of the holiday session and how to measure up, may contribute to some degree.

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   iv) Again certain types of dietary indiscretions may help to trigger heart attacks. Some evidence indicates that eating a meal extremely high in saturated fats, might help to trigger plaque rupture in deceased coronary arteries.

   v) Over indulging in salt, might create excess cardiac stress in people with Hypertension or heart failure.

   vi) Loading up on alcohol can trigger heart “holiday heart” – that is the onset of atrial fibrillation, which in turn, could trigger a heart attack in someone with critical coronary artery disease.

   vii) Common sense suggests that simple denial plays a very large role in explaining why heart attacks are deadlier around the holidays.

   viii) People who develop chest pain or other symptoms during holidays are likely to try wishing the symptoms away, or attributing them to some other causes – over eating, stress, excessive alcohol etc, since they surmise by proclaiming “how can it be a heart-attack? It is Christmas “.

   ix) Such wilful ignoring of potentially dangerous cardiac symptoms tends to go on until those symptoms simply can no longer be ignored. At that time, the heart-attack victim arrives in the hospital much later than he/she would have at other times of the year. This delay can be deadly.

   x) When you are having a heart-attack, time is of the essence. A delay of a few minutes can make a difference between surviving with a healthy heart, surviving with a very damaged heart – or dying.

   xi) Any Physician who has taken care of patients with heart attacks over the holidays will tell you that, at that time of the year, people tend to try “riding it out “, so as not to ruin the Christmas season for their family and friends.

   xii) By the time they seek help, they are a lot sicker than they would have been, had they ignored the holiday season, and sought medical help right away.

   xiii) As it happens we should, also note that, having to attend funeral during the holidays also tends, to be quite disruptive and more painful to the members of the family we are trying to protect. So take action immediately and don’t allow death to define you.

What is our take this week?

   Please whenever you experience Any chest pain, holiday or no holiday, notify the nearest person to you to take immediate action. Please be medically guided.

Please follow me on twitter ; @ _ DRSUN.