Monday: The Day for Deadly Heart Attacks?

Let’s admit that we all collectively hate Mondays, but that’s just the Monday blues, right? Now there is more reason to hate Mondays. New research unveiled at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) meeting in Manchester indicates that the beginning of the week is the time when serious heart attacks are most likely to occur.

Doctors at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland examined data from 10,528 patients admitted to hospital with the most serious type of heart attack between 2013 and 2018 (7,112 in the Republic of Ireland, 3,416 in Northern Ireland). When a major coronary artery is fully stopped, this is known as an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Deadly heart attacks are more common on a Monday

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Forget Monday Blues, Monday Heart Attacks Might be Worse

The researchers found a spike in rates of STEMI heart attacks at the start of the working week, with rates highest on a Monday. There were also higher rates of STEMI than expected on a Sunday.

Scientists have so far been unable to fully explain why this “Blue Monday” phenomenon occurs. Previous studies suggesting that heart attacks are more likely on a Monday have highlighted an association with circadian rhythm - the body’s sleep or wake cycle.

There are over 30,000 hospital admissions due to STEMI each year in the UK. It requires emergency assessment and treatment to minimize damage to the heart, and this is normally performed with emergency angioplasty - a procedure to re-open the blocked coronary artery.

Start of the Week Means Increased Chances of ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Cardiologist Dr. Jack Laffan, who led the research at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said: “We’ve found a strong statistical correlation 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 presume a circadian element.”

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “Someone is admitted to hospital due to a life-threatening heart attack every five minutes in the UK, so it’s vital that research continues to shed light on how and why heart attacks happen.

“This study adds to evidence around the timing of particularly serious heart attacks, but we now need to unpick what it is about certain days of the week that makes them more likely. Doing so could help doctors better understand this deadly condition so we can save more lives in the future.”

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Reference:

1. Deadly heart attacks are more common on a Monday - (https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2023/june/heart-attack-more-common-monday)

Source-Eurekalert