Because you get to spend joyous time with family and friends and share festive foods with them, too, the holidays can definitely fill your heart with gladness. Did you know that they can also be hard on your heart?
About 40 years ago, experts started calling a health problem very common during the merriest times of the year “holiday heart syndrome”. This article will get you introduced to some of the most important matters about it.
Don’t forget to share this on your various social media sites later on so that the ones you care about the most can also know the importance of taking good care of their hearts when the holidays strike.
Description
Holiday heart syndrome is something that can affect even a person who doesn’t have a history of heart problems. So in other words, your cardiologist may have given you a clean bill of health but still not out of the woods.
Just like what the name says, holiday heart syndrome is linked to the holidays — it is during the most festive moments of the year when the rate of people diagnosed with holiday heart syndrome skyrockets.
Causes
Experts say that holiday heart syndrome can be blamed on excessive alcohol consumption. It is also something that can be linked to the consumption of excessive amounts of food, in particular unhealthy ones.
When too much alcohol is consumed, irregular beating of the heart can strike — it’s what doctors refer to as arrhythmias. Sometimes arrhythmias do not come with symptoms, which make them go undetected early on.
Risk Factors
If you’re the kind of person who likes to drink a lot most especially during the holidays, you may be at risk of having holiday heart syndrome. The same is true if you cannot say no to a lot of unhealthy foods.
Did you know that low temperatures can increase a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke due to high blood pressure? When it’s cold, the blood vessels narrow, and this can increase the blood pressure.
It’s this fact that makes holiday heart syndrome something that should never be taken lightly — pairing it with high blood pressure can lead to disastrous results, even for an individual whose heart is deemed perfectly healthy.
Symptoms
One of the most common symptoms of holiday heart syndrome is palpitations. When you have palpitations, you are aware of the beating of your heart whether it’s pounding or racing. You may also feel it fluttering of skipping.
It’s possible for someone who has holiday heart syndrome to experience chest pain and shortness of breath. Fainting is possible, too, especially if the heart becomes incapable of pumping enough blood to the brain.
Complications
The problem with holiday heart syndrome is it can increase a person’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke, according to doctors. They add that it’s all about arrhythmias that holiday heart syndrome can cause.
You see, irregular beats of the heart can increase the risk of blood clot formation. You don’t want to have a blood clot somewhere in your body because it can travel and cause a potentially life-threatening problem.
That blood clot can get lodged in an artery that supplies blood to your heart or brain, causing the tissues in the said organs to be deprived of oxygen. Such leads to a heart attack or stroke.
Prevention
Doctors say that you should drink alcohol moderately during the holidays if you don’t want to end up with holiday heart syndrome. It will also help a lot if you opt for healthier food options.
If you still develop arrhythmias even with moderate alcohol consumption, it’s not unlikely for you to be told by your doctor to quit drinking booze altogether.
