The most dangerous days for a heart attack
A major study has revealed which days of the week and month are the most dangerous for heart health.
If the heart could choose, it would probably prefer it to be the weekend all the time. This is because fewer heart attacks occur on Saturdays and Sundays.
In any given month, the 18th is the best day when it comes to heart health. And over the course of a year, July is the month with the lowest incidence of heart attacks, according to a Swedish study.
Researchers from the universities of Uppsala and Umeå analysed data from a register that records virtually all cases of myocardial infarction in Sweden. They also took into account the role played by the weather and air pollution – but both were negligible compared to the impact had by Mondays.
Beware the 28th day of the month
If you have a job, this is the day when you need to be most careful. This applies even more to men than to women.
It is presumably due to the stress associated with this day: an average of 60 heart attacks were recorded in Sweden at the beginning of each week, compared with 48 on Saturdays. Although this effect was also observed among retirees, it was significantly lower.
The 28th of each month saw an average of 56 heart-related emergencies, compared with 52 on the 18th. Researchers believe that this increase could be due to financial constraints and deadlines that have to be met at the end of the month.
Retirees: take care at Christmas
December is also a risky time: in Sweden, 56 heart attacks occurred every day, compared to 48 per day in July, when almost the entire country is on holiday. The Christmas holidays, on the other hand, took their toll on heart health – but of retirees only.
