Heart attacks spike every Christmas. How cold weather, big meals — and yes, family gatherings — raise risks.

Natalie Rahhal
·Reporter
·5 min read
Rates of heart attacks in the U.S. spike every December and peak on Christmas. (Getty Images)
Rates of heart attacks in the U.S. spike every December and peak on Christmas. (Getty Images)

It’s no secret that heart attacks are more common around the holidays. Studies like this one from the American Heart Association (AHA), consistently find that more people in the U.S. have and die from heart attacks on Christmas Day than on any other day of the year. The yearly spike is often blamed on holiday stress. Experts say that stress does contribute to the elevated risks, but there’s more at play.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to skip the holiday celebrations. But knowing how cold, cocktails and lavish home-cooked meals can affect your cardiovascular system can help you prepare for your heart-healthiest holiday. Here’s how.

You can’t necessarily feel the ways colder temperatures impact your cardiovascular system, but they’re very real, Dr. Patricia Vassallo, a Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine cardiology professor, tells Yahoo Life. “The cold weather does affect your biology,” she says. “The blood vessels constrict, and that raises the blood pressure and makes it harder for your heart to pump blood to your body.”

That’s true even in typically warmer climates where the temperature never drops particularly low. In Los Angeles, for example, where daily low temperatures rarely drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, there are about a third more heart attacks in December and January than in the summer months.

For those in colder climes, snow can pose added risks. “Think about somebody who is unaccustomed to the labor of shoveling snow, and all of a sudden is faced with a covered driveway,” Dr. Matthew Tomey, chair of the AHA’s cardiovascular intervention science committee and a cardiologist at the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, tells Yahoo Life. For someone who isn’t doing regular, intense exercise, the strenuous activity can be a “triggering event” for cardiovascular trouble, he says. Plus, you might be less likely to recognize warning signs such as chest pain and shortness of breath while you’re already feeling the burn from shoveling heavy snow or shivering in the cold, adds Vassallo.

To be clear, a single feast is very unlikely to give an otherwise healthy person a heart attack or stroke. But for someone whose blood vessels are already damaged by heart disease, the excess associated with big parties may be dangerous. “Holidays are times when we indulge in what might be called ‘indiscretions” — such as sumptuous meals and cocktails — “which might be triggering factors for the onset of [cardiovascular] events,” such as heart attacks, says Tomey.

And the combination of booze, food and cold can be a “vicious cycle,” says Vassallo. Plus, “if you drink more alcohol and you’re outside, that often is a problem because you don’t notice how your body is changing with the cold weather.” There’s even a name for one of the ways that alcohol can affect your cardiovascular system: holiday heart. “It’s classically the new onset of atrial fibrillation” — a potentially life-threatening heart arrhythmia — “after having one too many cups of eggnog,” says Tomey.

While it’s difficult to pin the spike in heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems around the holidays on any one cause, experts agree that stress does play a role. “We often think of the holidays as very fun and happy, but there are lots of people who have lost loved ones, or even are stressed preparing to host a big party,” says Vassallo. “Holidays are very stressful for many people and stress, at any time, increases hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine, which increase the blood pressure and heart rate.” That, she says, can lead to heart attacks or strokes for those already at risk.

First of all, it’s important to know the warning signs of an impending heart attack, experts say. Those include: a sensation of pain, pressure or heaviness in your chest, sudden fatigue or shortness of breath, a cold sweat, rapid or irregular heartbeat and pain or numbness in an arm, your back, shoulder, neck, jaw or stomach. People may also feel nauseated or like their stomach is upset if they’re about to have a heart attack (this is more common in women). These should never be ignored. During the holidays, we “want to be spending time with friends and family as opposed to in the hospital, but we may be missing an opportunity to address things,” says Tomey.

As much as you want time with loved ones, it’s also important to manage your stress (and blood pressure) by stepping away periodically to exercise or meditate, Vassallo notes. A good rule of thumb is “all things in moderation,” when it comes to both friends and food, adds Tomey. That doesn’t mean you can’t have that slice of pecan pie, but maybe skip the second helping of roast, or don’t refill your wine glass.

If you’re hosting, do yourself and your guests a heart-healthy favor, Vassallo suggests: Put out some veggies and ranch dip ahead of dinner. People are more likely to eat precut vegetables when they’re already in front of them, she says. And everyone will be less likely to overindulge in the salty mains and sides if they’re already a bit full from the healthy appetizers.