Heart-related deaths increase during holidays, AMR medics say

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - COVID-19 isn’t the only threat to health during the year-end holidays.

American Medical Response (AMR) paramedics urge the community to beware: The risk of dying from a sudden, serious heart ailment increases from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

The medics recommend avoiding triggers for the cardiac crisis, paying attention to your heart, and calling 911 at the first sign of a problem.

Emergency medical teams call the increased risk “holiday heart.”

While the term was coined in 1978, the first major study on holiday heart was published in 2004 in Circulation, an international journal for heart doctors.

In studying 53 million deaths nationwide between 1973 and 2001, AMR says researchers found, “The number of cardiac deaths is higher on December 25 than any other day of the year, second highest on December 26 and third highest on January 1.”

The risk rises due to holiday stress, over-exertion, skipping medications and dietary mistakes.

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