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High risk of death on holidays due to heart diseases
Researchers from an Australian university have found in a study that more people die from heart disease during the Christmas holidays than at other times. The reason for this is apparently not the winter cold, but other factors.
More heart attack tote during the Christmas holidays
A study by the University of Melbourne (Australia) has shown that more people die from heart attacks during the Christmas holidays than usual. The researchers, who published their findings in the Journal of the American Heart Association, also reported It is not cold but other factors that are responsible for the increase in deaths during this period.
Researchers have found that more people die of heart attacks than usual in the Christmas holidays. However, this is not necessarily the case with the winter cold. (Image: hriana / fotolia.com) Increased risk of dying in winter
Previous studies in the US had already shown that during the Christmas holidays more heart attacks are common. Experts had assumed that this effect is due to the winter cold.
It has been known for some time that there are more fatal heart attacks in winter. Health experts such as the German Association of Established Cardiologists (BNK) have in the past pointed to an increased risk of complications such as heart attack, stroke or circulatory disturbances of the heart in cold weather.
The reason for this is that at low temperatures the blood pressure automatically increases because the blood vessels contract to regulate the temperature. People with hypertension or underlying diseases such as coronary heart disease or arteriosclerosis are therefore especially careful in the cold months.
It's not the winter cold
But the scientists at the Australian university have analyzed data from New Zealand, a country in which on Christmas and New Year's Eve summer and warm temperatures prevail.
It also showed that in the period between Christmas and the first week of January, there were significantly more deaths from heart disease. Cold can not be the reason for the increased numbers here.
Lower average age of the deceased
The scientists evaluated data from a period of 25 years (1988-2013) for the study. There were 738,409 deaths, 197,109 were the result of heart disease. However, between the 25th of December and the 7th of January, this death rate increased by an average of 4.2 percent compared to other times of the year.
Besides, the dead were younger. The average age of people who died of heart disease during the Christmas holidays was about one year lower at 76.8 years than in the remainder of the year.
Stress and unhealthy diet at Christmas
The researchers were able to separate the "holiday effect" from the "winter effect" by analyzing the data from a country where Christmas is summer, study author Josh Knight of the University of Melbourne said in a statement.
Although scientists can not make a definitive statement about the causes of the Christmas holiday effect, Knight believes that factors such as limited access to healthcare during the Christmas break, emotional stress, altered diets, and alcohol consumption all play a key role here.
On the first point, he said, "The Christmas holiday season is a popular time to travel in New Zealand." People are then away from their main medical facilities. "This can lead to a lack of familiarity, delaying the search for treatment".
Date of death could be selected
Knight pointed out another possible explanation. It could therefore be that people choose a day for their death that is important to them.
"The ability of individuals to modify their date of death on the basis of meaningful data has been confirmed and refuted in other studies, but it remains a possible explanation for this holiday effect," said the researcher. (Ad)