Why is the risk of a heart attack higher on Mondays?

In addition to the depression of returning to the office, you should be wary of heart attacks on Mondays. Serious heart attacks are more likely to occur on the first day of the week, according to a study conducted by Irish doctors and published by The Times. With the same rates of comorbidities, the chance of having a heart attack on Monday is 13% higher than on any other day of the week.

“Monday is the price of coming back after the weekend,” comments Dr. Frederic Saldmann for Le Parisien. According to a cardiologist and nutritionist at hospitals in Paris, “significant differences in diet, alcohol consumption and lack of sleep” are the first factors to explain the increase in heart attacks at the beginning of the week.

Physicians from the Belfast Health and Welfare Trust and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland analyzed data from 10,528 patients, 7,112 in the Republic and 3,416 in Northern Ireland. They were hospitalized between 2013 and 2018 for the most serious type of heart attack, myocardial infarction, which occurs when a large coronary artery is completely blocked. Thus, the researchers noted the peak of heart attacks at the beginning of the week and especially on Monday.

Sunday, the second riskiest day

Cardiologist Dr Jack Laffan, who led research at the Belfast Health and Welfare Trust, told The Independent that the phenomenon “remains a curiosity”: “The cause is probably multifactorial, but based on what we know from previous research, it’s reasonable . suggest that there is a circadian element. »

For Dr. Frederik Saldmann, we must go further. “Moreover, the determining factor will be, first of all, a change in pace and a change in this cycle. We can find the same thing on the same day depending on the hours. A change of pace is the little straw that breaks a camel’s back. Add to that the stress of work…”

The second day of the week when cancer risk is highest is Sunday, according to results presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference in Manchester. There, the explanation is quite different, according to a cardiologist at Paris hospitals: “It’s like suddenly the immune system has weakened. This excessive relaxation is also a factor in causing cardiac arrest. We must not forget that the complete absence of stress makes you die faster, ”he justifies himself. In a word, relax, but not too much!