Heart attacks most likely happen at this time on Christmas Eve, study says
By Ashley May
(Photo: PeopleImages, Getty Images)
The holidays wreak havoc on heart health, according to a new study out of Sweden.
Christmas Eve is the worst day of the year for heart attacks, researchers found, with risk rising nearly 40 percent. More specifically, research showed that most heart attacks hit around 10 p.m. that day.
The observational study analyzed the timing of 283,014 heart attacks reported to the Swedish coronary care unit registry between 1998 to 2013. Findings were published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The BMJ.
In Sweden, Christmas Eve is the main time for celebrating the holiday as people are most likely to see family, drink and eat together.
Other days related to a higher risk of heart attack: Midsummer, a Swedish holiday in mid-June where businesses close and families come together, and New Year's Day. Mornings (before 8 a.m.) and Mondays were also times more likely for heart attacks to occur.
Researchers didn’t find an increased risk during sporting events or the Easter holiday.
People over the age of 75 and those with diabetes and a history of coronary artery disease were most likely to be among those having heart attacks.
“We do not know for sure but many mechanisms may be involved of which emotional distress with acute experience of anger, anxiety, sadness, grief, and stress increases the risk of myocardial infarction,” researcher David Erlinge at Lund University’s Department of Cardiology, told USA TODAY. "Excessive food intake, alcohol, long distance traveling may also increase the risk of heart attack."
More research must be done to determine what exactly might cause this holiday spike in heart attacks.
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