'Holiday Heart':Â Heart Attacks Spike in Last 2 Weeks of December
Whether from stress, cold weather or falling out of good habits in terms of eating, sleeping and drinking, heart attack rates spike as much as 40% between Christmas and New Year’s.
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MONDAY, Dec. 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The holiday season is filled with to-do lists, but one should rise to the top: Take care of your heart.
Whether from stress, cold weather or falling out of good habits in terms of eating, sleeping and drinking, heart attack rates spike as much as 40% between Christmas and New Year’s, according to cardiologist Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones. He is chairman of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago.
“When we look across the year in terms of heart attack rates, what we see is fairly constant rates week by week with two exceptions: One is that there’s a broad, shallow dip in summer months and, two, there is a very short spike of about 30% to 40% in the last couple weeks of the year between Christmas and New Year’s,” Lloyd-Jones said in a university news release.
It’s important not to underestimate symptoms, he stressed.
“We have two kidneys and two lungs, but only one heart and one brain, so it’s much safer to err on the side of caution,” Lloyd-Jones said. “If there’s any doubt, get checked out in person. At best, hopefully you are aborting a heart attack or stroke. Time is heart muscle, time is brain cells, and so time is of the essence. The sooner you seek help in that situation, the sooner we can save your life or brain."
Family stress is an issue for some, as well as falling out of healthy habits.
“During the holiday season, there are different stresses like dealing with your in-laws and travel arrangements that may add stress," Lloyd-Jones said. "We’re often knocked off our eating and sleeping patterns, we tend to consume more alcohol, we’re not pursuing our typical physical activity and we may get thrown off our medication schedule.”
