For most people, the Christmas and New Year's holidays are about family, food and celebration.
But research indicates that can be harmful if you're not careful. In fact, cardiac mortality reaches its highest rate during December and January.
Dr. Mark Peterman, an interventional cardiologist with Texas Health Plano, told KERA's Sam Baker the so-called dreaded coronary effect stems from three things.
Dr. Peterman: The first is the general winter illness trend is up. More viruses, flu and RSV and pertussis and all these respiratory viruses that really can make people sick and that stresses their hearts and causes them to have cardiac events.
And then the second thing is just travel and family and gifts and all the different aspects of the holidays that stress people out, trying to get work done at the end of the year, meet deadlines.
And the third thing I would say is some of it is just related to, you know, dietary changes and parties and, you know, alcohol and really rich foods and people kind of giving up on their diet over the holidays and eating things that they shouldn't, which, you know, causes increased inflammation in their heart and can trigger events.
Baker: Well, that last one did make me wonder if this was more about self-indulgence during the holidays or perhaps our lifestyle choices leading up to this point?
Dr. Peterman: The overall stress on your body is a long-term cumulative effect, but slight upticks can trigger events that otherwise might not happen.
I treated a patient just yesterday who was at a business party and was drinking some alcohol, started having chest pain, and ended up in the emergency room having a heart attack.
So, these celebrations and excesses that occur around the holidays can definitely trigger events.
Baker: Who's most at risk for this?
Dr. Peterman: People who are overweight, who are out of shape, who, you know, are diabetic or have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, people who's got a family history of other relatives who've had heart trouble at younger ages, and tobacco use as well. You know, oftentimes people who kind of are taking their health for granted don't get physicals regularly, and they don't realize that their blood pressure is running high, and then they, you, know, the holidays really drives it up a little more, and and the stress of. You know, deadlines and things, and before you know it, something's happening to them.
Baker: The research also suggests that maybe part of the problem here involves people ignoring or maybe not recognizing symptoms of a heart attack or stroke for that matter.
Dr. Peterman: Recognition is hugely important. The amount of time it takes you to get medical attention, it can be the difference between coming through the heart attack with no change in quality of life or life expectancy, or having a drastic loss of quality of life and much shorter life expectancy. Because the more injury that occurs to your heart during a heart attack or a stroke for that matter, the more irreversible changes are in your organs that will really you know, lead to crippling disability.
Baker: So, what would be some suggestions for maybe avoiding this?
Dr. Peterman: The most effective strategy is to go get a physical address, your medical issues, and then, you know, really try to maintain a healthy lifestyle year round. And you're kind of insulated going into the stress of the holidays, which, you now, is generally not avoidable.
And so life is always gonna throw stressful events at you, whether it's an illness or holiday or a family event or whatever. And those events You know, your body has to be prepared to handle that stress and that means controlling your risk factors early and exercising and maintaining a healthy weight.
Baker: In the meantime, is moderation a good idea to keep in mind?
Dr. Peterman: Yeah. I mean, definitely, you know, when you're in the midst of the holidays, not indulging in everything on the spread of meals and trying to pick healthy options in general and a few small indulgences. But, you, know, really going overboard and drinking heavily or just massively overeating is definitely a setup to trigger something unwanted.
RESOURCES:
Cardiac Mortality Is Higher Around Christmas and New Year's Than at Any Other Time | Circulation
Heart attack deaths spike during the winter holidays | American Heart Association
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