The phenomenon is called “Merry Christmas Coronary, Happy New Year Heart Attack.” More people suffer heart attack and stroke in Christmastime. Worse, sufferers are more likely to die then than any other time of year.
Cold weather is not the only cause of the spiking of cardiovascular cases. Study after study shows the culprits to be holiday stress, pollution and, most of all, food and alcohol binging. Traffic, crowds and shopping wear down holidaymakers. Eating and drinking sprees send them to emergency rooms for palpitations and light-headedness, symptoms of “holiday heart”. For lucky ones the abnormal heart rhythm, usually Atrial Fibrillation, fixes itself within 24 hours. But others would require admission for monitoring and, in extreme cases, electric shock to normalize heart rates. It’s certainly not a fun way to spend the holidays.
In North America the phenomenon kicks in on the last weekend of November, Thanksgiving, till the first week of January. In the Philippines it’s from mid-December, the start of Simbang Gabi (Cockcrow’s Mass), till New Year’s, Valentine’s and Chinese New Year. “That’s when people tend to overeat and drink,” cardiologist Tony Leachon shakes his head. “They also miss medical appointments, postpone treatments, and skip medications and workouts — very deadly combinations.”
A 26-year (1973-2001) charting of 53 million deaths in the US reveals a 5-percent jump in natural-cause demise during the holidays. Christmas Day was the deadliest, followed by December 26, then January 1. The research by sociologist Dr. David Phillips also notches increases in hospital admissions for cardiac and non-cardiac causes. Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in December 2004, Phillips study excludes suicides, homicides and accidents.
Could many of the deaths have been caused by lack of specialist attention, since doctors are on holiday too? Nope, says a study of 127,959 patients hospitalized for heart attack in 1994-1996, by cardiologist James Jollis at Duke University. Treatment was basically the same for all patients during the holidays and off-season. Still, “we found the 30-day mortality of patients in December to be higher,” Jollis writes. Over-indulgence is singled out as culprit.
Cardiologist Robert Kloner’s 1999 report further discounts mere cold weather and points up the “holiday effect”. Focusing on hospitals in Los Angeles, where winters are milder, he notes that change of diet rather than temperature leads to more heart attacks and strokes. Merrymakers of all ages tend to eat fatty stuff; adults drink more alcohol in parties. Pollutants from wood-burning fireplaces further trigger cardiovascular irregularities.
All three studies by Phillips, Jollis and Kloner exhibit annual 5-percent rises in heart attacks and strokes — and deaths — during Christmas. The Philippines seems to be worse.
Dr. Leachon recalls a 2004-2008 survey of Metro Manila hospitals to show a tripling of emergencies and admissions in Christmastime. Patients were taken in for heart attack, stroke and diabetes — from overeating and a drink too many. Usually about 30-50 cases occur in January to November. But this rose to 153 in December 2004, 163 in 2005, 172 in 2006, 170 in 2007, and 170 in 2008. Half of the holiday patients expired. Expect the same trend this Christmas, says Leachon, board trustee of the Philippine College of Physicians and medical director of Pfizer-Philippines.
How to prevent it? Obviously, through moderation. Doctors advise no postponement of diets and workouts even during the holidays. Proven effective from her figure is Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos’s method. She tastes everything on the buffet table — including the tantalizing lechon — but only one bite each. And before she fills up her plate, she drinks two glasses of water, so that her tummy will signal her earlier to stop ingesting.
Other tips to stay heart-healthy during the holidays, from Dr. Alice Jacobs, president of the American Heart Association: Don’t skip regular appointments with the doc. Stick to healthy habits and help your family do so. Have enough of your usual medications to allow for holiday business or pharmacy breaks and travel. Check out the medical facilities where you will be traveling; ask your physician who you could see if you need a doc away from home. If you have symptoms, don’t ignore them.
As for drinking, Arnel Doria of the Honda Safety Driving Center warns against bottomless servings of alcoholic drinks. Citing latest figures, he says that a driver with blood alcohol concentration of 0.1 is seven times more likely to meet a fatal crash than one who is sober.
And what is 0.1 BAC? Basically, a bottle of beer or a shot of whiskey consumed in an hour is 0.02 BAC. The more you drink, the more likely an accident. A driver who downs two beers in an hour would have 0.04 BAC, and 1.4 times more likely to meet an accident compared to the sober. With three or more beers, the chance of crash increases tenfold. At 0.08 BAC, he is 11 times more likely to be involved in a crash. After the sixth bottle, at 0.1 BAC, he is 48 times more likely to have an accident, and seven times more likely to die in it. Who says one for the road wouldn’t hurt?
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“To an unloving person, genuine love can appear a farce. To a loving person, even the farcical can become lovable. Indeed, love conquers all — even its enemies and the seemingly unlovable.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ
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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com