You’d Better Watch Out: Why More Cardiac Deaths Happen On Dec 25 Than Any Other Day

The latest research from the American Heart Association shows heart attack deaths peak during the last week of December, with the highest number on Christmas Day, followed by December 26 and January 1.

And of course, everyone thinks it’s the sort of thing that happens to someone else, or someone else’s family. Such a thing could never happen at your celebrations. But unfortunately, (almost) everyone is surprised by the first time.

So, with that in mind…

‘Tis the season to be careful

Some of the risk factors are not too much of a mystery, for example:

• Overeating, in particular a high salt intake. Yes, other factors (including other dietary factors) matter more in the long-run. Indeed, we wrote about it here: Hypertension: Factors Far More Relevant Than Salt. But in the short-term, salt will raise your blood pressure in the moment and make an adverse cardiac event more likely right now, as opposed to merely increasing your 5-year risk or such.
• Alcohol consumption, often at binge-drinking levels. And since “binge-drinking” tends to conjure images of students drinking their bodyweight in cheap liquor, let’s be clear that if you normally have a glass of wine once in a long while, and then one particular day you drink an eggnog, two glasses of sherry, two glasses of wine, or was it three because you’re not counting at this point, then that does qualify as binge-drinking too. See also: Can We Drink To Good Health? ← this is mostly about red wine and heart health
• Emotional stress due to family dramas and/or the pressures of commercialism. The latter might seem like something that will only affect those in poverty, but in fact, it’s astonishing how many people will run themselves into the ground trying to create the picture-perfect holiday instead of just enjoying the day. Sometimes, there can be a lot of peace to be found in simply saying “no, let’s not”. We wrote about this here: The Joy Of Missing Out

Other heightened risk factors might not come so quickly to mind, such as…

The cold truth

Cold weather, and especially exertion in that cold weather. A lot of people might not think about it, but cold has a vasconstricting effect; that is to say, it causes the body’s vasculature to shrink, increasing localized blood pressure.

If it’s a cold shower as above, that can be very invigorating. If it’s a week of sub-zero temperatures, it can become a problem.

❝Shoveling a little snow off your sidewalk may not seem like hard work. However, […] combined with the fact that the exposure to cold air can constrict blood vessels throughout the body, you’re asking your heart to do a lot more work in conditions that are diminishing the heart’s ability to function at its best.❞

Source: Snow shoveling, cold temperatures combine for perfect storm of heart health hazards

If you have a heart condition, please do not shovel snow. Let someone else do it, or stay put. Same deal with other outdoor exertions. That “traditional brisk walk after dinner” is generally a good thing for most people most of the time, but there are times when it isn’t, and this is one of those times.

And if you are normally able to exercise safely? Unless you’re sure your heart is in good order, exercising in the warmth, not the cold, still seems to be the best bet.

See also: Cold Weather Health Risks

🎶And since we’ve no place to go,

Delays getting care are also a big factor when it comes to mortality rates. This is because people are more likely to ignore or downplay symptoms during holidays, increasing the likelihood of being dead on arrival, dying in the emergency department, or dying outside a hospital setting:

❝Throughout the holidays, we often see people ignore warning signs of heart trouble because they don’t want to disrupt family celebrations.

Rapid treatment significantly improves survival, and whether it’s chest pain, a racing heartbeat, or a sudden collapse, these symptoms could signal a heart attack, dangerous arrhythmia, or even cardiac arrest.❞

~ Dr. Ed Racht, Chief Medical Officer of Global Medical Response

Learn more: Heart attack deaths spike during the holidays

Just how big is the spike?

It’s quite notable:

❝For cardiac and noncardiac diseases, a spike in daily mortality occurs during the Christmas/New Year’s holiday period.

This spike persists after adjusting for trends and seasons and is particularly large for individuals who are dead on arrival at a hospital, die in the emergency department, or die as outpatients. For this group during the holiday period, 4.65% (±0.30%; 95% CI, 4.06% to 5.24%) more cardiac and 4.99% (±0.42%; 95% CI, 4.17% to 5.81%) more noncardiac deaths occur than would be expected if the holidays did not affect mortality.

Cardiac mortality for individuals who are dead on arrival, die in the emergency department, or die as outpatients peaks at Christmas and again at New Year’s. These twin holiday spikes also are conspicuous for noncardiac mortality.

The excess in holiday mortality is growing proportionately larger over time, both for cardiac and noncardiac mortality.❞

See the science in full: Cardiac Mortality Is Higher Around Christmas and New Year’s Than at Any Other Time: The Holidays as a Risk Factor for Death

Want to keep yourself and your loved ones safe?

Consider:

Planning Festivities Your Body Won’t Regret

Take care!