People are more likely to die of heart disease during the winter months.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to the statistics, the number of deaths caused by heart disease has substantially increased across the country every year. Sociologist David Phillips from the University of California is the first researcher who discovered this strange phenomenon and called it the “Happy New Year Heart Attack.”
The public health specialists have recently conducted a comprehensive investigation to find out whether the wintertime effect is the one causing the spikes in heart disease deaths. The scientists analyzed data from New Zealand to see if this phenomenon occurs in smaller countries as well.
They also chose New Zealand because the holiday season is in the summer. Based on the estimates, the mortality rate outside of medical facilities increased by four percent during Christmas.
In addition, the researchers noted that the patients who died of heart disease during the holiday season were a bit younger than the ones who died due to similar causes over the course of the year.
Economist Philip Clarke from the University of Melbourne says that this phenomenon remains a mystery, but there may be a few factors which contribute to the rising number of heart disease deaths.
Clarke believes that stress levels might increase before Christmas and take their toll by the end of the holiday season. Also, people might experience a detrimental change in their diets. This part of the year is characterized by food poisoning which may directly or indirectly affect the likelihood of heart attack.
Another reason might be that medical facilities are not well-staffed. Over the course of his career, Clarke says that he has noticed similar spikes in heart disease deaths among some ethnic and religious groups.
He underlines that although some people might feel sick before Christmas, they decide to postpone care, and some of them die in the meantime. However, Clarke believes that the debasement of medical care might be the leading factor influencing the high mortality rate related to heart disease.
More precisely, either sick people don’t seek treatment, or various medical facilities lack qualified professionals. Therefore, the public health specialists must raise awareness among every local community in the United States to address this issue.
If Americans are aware of the risks of heart disease during the holiday season, they will hopefully improve their lifestyle.
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