People are 13 percent more likely to suffer a fatal heart attack on Monday than on any other day, a new study has found.
Doctors from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Royal College of Surgeons analyzed data from 10,528 patients across Ireland.
The data was about patients who were hospitalized between 2013 and 2018 and had a severe type of heart attack — an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) that occurs when a large coronary artery is blocked. It gets blocked.
The researchers found an increase in STEMI heart attacks at the start of the work week, with rates highest on Mondays.
The rate was also higher than expected on Sunday, according to findings presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference in Manchester.
The researchers are not able to reveal more about this trend.
Previous researchers have found that heart attacks are more likely to occur on Mondays, which illustrates the connection between circadian rhythms – the body’s sleep and wake cycles.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) notes that there are more than 30,000 hospital admissions due to STEMI in the UK each year.
In this condition, emergency treatment is necessary to prevent damage to the heart which is done by angioplasty – a procedure to re-open the coronary artery.
Dr Jack Laughlin, lead researcher and cardiologist at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said: “We found a strong statistical association between the start of the working week and the incidence of STEMI.”
“This has been described before but remains a curiosity. The cause is likely multifactorial, however, based on what we know from previous studies, it is reasonable to speculate a circadian factor.”
BHF Medical Director Professor Sir Nilesh Samani said: “Every five minutes someone is admitted to hospital with a life-threatening heart attack in the UK, so it is vital that research continues to highlight how the heart How and why seizures occur,” said BHF Medical Director Professor Sir Nilesh Samani. .,
“This study adds to the evidence about the timing of particularly serious heart attacks, but we now need to unravel what it is about certain days of the week that make them more likely.”
“Doing so can help doctors better understand this deadly condition so we can save more lives in the future.”