Severe and fatal heart attacks are more common than Mondays. At the beginning of the week, in fact, the risk of suffering a lethal heart attack is 13% higher than expected. This is demonstrated by an Irish research, conducted by doctors from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and just presented by the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS). The study analyzed data from 10,528 patients hospitalized between 2013 and 2018 with the most severe type of heart attack: a ST segment over-leveling myocardial infarction (Stem) that occurs when a major coronary artery is completely blocked.
"The researchers found a peak of Stemi heart attacks at the beginning of the working week, with a greater incidence on Mondays - comments Giovanni Esposito, professor of cardiology at the Federico II of Naples and national president Gise -. A fact that we can also find in Italy, however. In previous studies it has been shown that the circadian rhythm, which regulates the sleep and wake cycle, would play a decisive role. In fact, at the beginning of the week three important cardiovascular risk factors closely linked to the circadian rhythm tend to be associated: lack of sleep, busted schedules and stress at the beginning of the week. It is a sort of social jetlag, which increases the risk of heart attack in the most vulnerable subjects".
On Mondays it is easy to 'bust' the so-called peripheral biological clocks present in almost all organs, including the heart. The often different lifestyle of the weekend, frequent not only in the youngest, moreover, can lead to an increase in pressure or sugar and lipids in the blood.
"Reducing this risk is not so difficult: - adds Esposito - respect the good rules of daily life, food and physical activity, take the correct therapies at the appropriate times, and maybe take the beginning of the day and the week calmly, trying to at least reduce stress".
An increase in accesses for life-threatening heart attack makes it critical that research continues to shed light on how and why this phenomenon occurs. "This study - concludes President Gise - adds to the already numerous evidences on the timing of particularly serious heart attacks, but now we need to better understand what are the factors that make certain days of the week more at risk. This could help clinicians put in place strategies and intervention approaches that can save more lives in the future."
Monday is the black day for the heart, +13% heart attacks
2023-06-05T15:50:48.855Z
Highlights: Severe and fatal heart attacks are more common than Mondays. At the beginning of the week, the risk of suffering a lethal heart attack is 13% higher than expected. Lack of sleep, busted schedules and stress are associated with heart attacks on Mondays. The circadian rhythm, which regulates the sleep and wake cycle, would play a decisive role in the timing of a heart attack, according to the researchers in Ireland and Italy. The study analyzed data from 10,528 patients hospitalized between 2013 and 2018 with the most severe type of heart attack.
Severe and fatal heart attacks are more common than Mondays. At the beginning of the week, in fact, the risk of suffering a lethal heart attack is 13% higher than expected. (ANSA)
