{"id":10792,"date":"2025-12-26T10:42:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T06:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=10792"},"modified":"2025-12-26T10:42:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T06:42:43","slug":"holiday-heart-syndrome-in-what-cases-does-the-risk-of-heart-attacks-increase-during-christmas-and-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/holiday-heart-syndrome-in-what-cases-does-the-risk-of-heart-attacks-increase-during-christmas-and-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Holiday Heart Syndrome&#8221;: In what cases does the risk of heart attacks increase during Christmas and New Year?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"3\">Christmas and New Year are the happiest times of the year; however, medics warn that we should remain cautious and practice moderation during this period, as statistics show a peak in heart attacks. Doctors have even coined a specific term for this phenomenon: <b data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"261\">&#8220;Holiday Heart Syndrome.&#8221;<\/b><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4\">A study conducted in Sweden revealed that the number of heart attacks increases by <b data-path-to-node=\"4\" data-index-in-node=\"83\">37%<\/b> specifically after Christmas dinner. There are several key reasons for this:<\/p>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"5\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"5,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Overeating and Salt:<\/b> Traditional holiday feasts are far more caloric and salt-heavy than a regular meal. When consuming large amounts of food, the body diverts blood flow to the digestive system, which increases the strain on the heart.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"5,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Alcohol:<\/b> Excessive drinking disrupts the heart&#8217;s rhythm (atrial fibrillation) and increases the risk of stroke.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5,2,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"5,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Emotional Stress:<\/b> Family gatherings, hosting, and preparations are often associated with heightened emotions and stress, which can lead to increased blood pressure.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5,3,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"5,3,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Cold and Inactivity:<\/b> Low temperatures constrict blood vessels, while sitting motionless in front of the TV for long periods slows down blood circulation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\"><b data-path-to-node=\"6\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Professor Chris Gale<\/b>, a Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust), notes that people often delay calling emergency services on Christmas Day. &#8220;People don\u2019t want to ruin the celebration or bother their loved ones, which is a fatal mistake,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">Heart attack symptoms are often mistaken for indigestion caused by food.<\/p>\n<h4 data-path-to-node=\"8\">Symptoms You Should Not Ignore:<\/h4>\n<ul data-path-to-node=\"9\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,0,0\">Pain or discomfort in the chest area;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,1,0\">Sweating, dizziness, or shortness of breath;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,2,0\">A sudden sense of anxiety (similar to a panic attack);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9,3,0\">Nausea.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 data-path-to-node=\"10\">How to Protect Yourself?<\/h4>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\">To stay healthy during the holidays, doctors recommend:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"1\" data-path-to-node=\"12\">\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,0,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"12,0,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Moderation:<\/b> Eat smaller portions and avoid salty snacks.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,1,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"12,1,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Alcohol Control:<\/b> Do not exceed the recommended limits.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,2,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"12,2,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Stay Warm:<\/b> Dress warmly, as every 1-degree drop in temperature increases the risk of a heart attack by 2%.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"12,3,0\"><b data-path-to-node=\"12,3,0\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Activity:<\/b> A short walk after dinner will help with digestion and help regulate blood pressure.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/health-fitness\/conditions\/heart-health\/christmas-heart-attack-spike\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Telegraph<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christmas and New Year are the happiest times of the year; however, medics warn that we should remain cautious and practice moderation during this period, as statistics show a peak in heart attacks. Doctors have even coined a specific term for this phenomenon: &#8220;Holiday Heart Syndrome.&#8221; A study conducted in Sweden revealed that the number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1594,1587,1657],"tags":[3555,3556,3554],"class_list":["post-10792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-research","category-science","tag-christmas","tag-holiday-heart-syndrome","tag-new-year"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10798,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10792\/revisions\/10798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}