While Christmas is typically a time of joy and celebration for many, it can also be a period of stress for others. The preparations for guests, cooking a large meal, and buying numerous gifts can be overwhelming.
According to scientists, this can have a negative impact on the body. A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2018 revealed that Christmas Eve is one of the most common times of the year for heart attacks.
As part of their research, a Swedish team analysed data from a heart attack registry collected between 1998 and 2013. They were particularly interested in whether factors such as national holidays, major sports events, the hour of the day, or the day of the week could increase the risk of a heart attack.
The data set included information on 283,014 heart attacks reported to a coronary care unit over that 16-year period. It was found that during the Christmas and New Year period, the risk of a heart attack increased by 15 per cent compared to the control period.
However, this significantly rose on December 24, when the risk shot up to 37 per cent. The peak time for heart attacks on Christmas Eve was 10pm.
The researchers attributed this increase to the fact that Swedes hold most of their festive celebrations on Christmas Eve, unlike in the UK where they are held on Christmas Day. They suggested that emotions tend to peak at this time of year.
The study also revealed that individuals over the age of 75 and/or those with diabetes and pre-existing heart conditions were at the greatest risk. Midsummer, considered the second most significant holiday in Sweden, was identified as a perilous period for heart attacks, with a 12% increased risk.
Apart from holidays, Monday mornings at 8am were also associated with a higher incidence of heart attacks. The research builds on earlier studies linking heart attacks to holidays and major events.
“In Western countries, cardiac mortality and hospital admission due to myocardial infarction [heart attack] has been observed to peak at the Christmas and New Year holiday,” the study stated. “The risk of myocardial infarction has also been linked to football championships, hurricanes, and stock market crashes.”
“It is therefore conjectured that factors associated with emotional stress, physical activity, and lifestyle changes may modulate the onset of myocardial infarction by acting as short term triggers.”
The study concluded: “In this large study covering 16 years of clinical myocardial infarction data, a higher risk of myocardial infarction was observed during Christmas/New Year and Midsummer holidays but not during the Easter holiday.”
“The highest risk was during Christmas Eve and in patients over 75, and those with previous diabetes and coronary artery disease. Sports events were not associated with higher risk of myocardial infarction.”
According to NHS guidelines, common symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Chest pain – a feeling of pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across your chest
- Pain in other parts of the body – it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms (usually the left arm, but it can affect both arms), jaw, neck, back and tummy
- Feeling lightheaded or dizzy
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting)
An overwhelming feeling of anxiety (similar to a panic attack)
Coughing or wheezing.
If you suspect you or someone else is having a heart attack you should call 999 immediately.
You are more at risk of a heart attack if you:
- Smoke
- Eat high-fat die
- Have diabetes
- Have high cholesterol
- Have high blood pressure (hypertension)
- Are overweight or obese.