Kyle Kellams: Here’s a holiday checklist for you. Remember to get the stocking stuffers. Check the air pressure in your tires. If you’re driving, make sure you know where the plane tickets are, and be aware of your health.
According to the American Heart Association, more people die from heart attacks during the last week of December than any other time of year. In fact, an article in the journal Circulation reports that more cardiac deaths occur in the United States on Dec. 25 than any other day, followed by Dec. 26 and Jan. 1.
Emily Turner, a nurse practitioner with Mercy Northwest, says reasons for the spike in heart emergencies are well known.
Emily Turner: I think when we reach the holidays, everybody is kind of in that, well, it’s Christmas or it’s Thanksgiving or it’s New Year’s. So I get to drink a little bit more than usual and eat more sweets than I normally would. Everybody likes to go out more. And it kind of puts a little extra strain where you wouldn’t have earlier in the year.
Kyle Kellams: So perhaps a little bit more of rich food or a little bit more of alcohol or a little bit more of celebration can actually have an effect. We can’t balance it out over, well, I’ll be good in January.
Emily Turner: A lot of times when I hear people say, I’ll be good starting next week, do they really do that?
Kyle Kellams: Good point.
Emily Turner: It’s great to get in the habit of healthier eating. If you’re not going to have dessert five days a week, and you’re at a holiday meal with family and friends around, you might have a piece of dessert there or eat something that you normally wouldn’t.
But sometimes I think people go, well, I’m going to have two or three desserts tonight because my two aunts and my grandmother all brought a dessert, and you wouldn’t normally do that. So you just want to make healthy, conscious choices and moderation and stick with those habits. Yes, I’m going to try a little bit of this, but I’m not going to eat four desserts tonight.
Kyle Kellams: You mentioned it might be that we go out more. We might have more holiday parties than usual. Can getting out of a routine affect it? Maybe I’m used to taking medicine every day at a certain time, but now I’m on the road.
Emily Turner: Yeah, that’s certainly true. Maybe I didn’t pack my cholesterol medicine, or maybe I ran out of time. I’ve been out shopping or visiting, and so I didn’t go and get a refill on my blood pressure medication. And it’s only one day, but it can overall have an effect because you get busy and you just forget.
Kyle Kellams: Out of routine, diet a little bit off what you usually might do. There could be stress.
Emily Turner: Too busy to exercise.
Kyle Kellams: So how do we keep it all in mind? We’ve got a festive two, three, four weeks. How do we make sure we’re not ending up in the emergency room?
Emily Turner: I always like to say you’ve got to take care of you to take care of other people. Staying on your routine is very important. Make sure you’re dressed appropriately when you’re out in the cold. Find ways to unwind and de-stress.
I know it’s hard to make time for yourself, but you should be doing it all year long. The holidays are not the time to put your health on the back burner if you want to be there for the next holiday, because it does add up over time.
Kyle Kellams: Let’s say you’re in the holidays and you feel some stress in your chest and you think it’s indigestion or it will go away. When should you take action?
Emily Turner: If you’re not feeling well, take action to make sure it’s not something worse. If you just ate a big meal and you have indigestion and you’re taking a Tums, and 30 minutes to an hour later you’re still uncomfortable, I would advise you to go get it checked out, especially if you have already been diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
If you have pain radiating to your arm, your neck, your jaw, your back, or you’re getting short of breath, lightheaded or dizzy, go to the ER. It’s never the wrong answer to get checked out and err on the side of safety.
The biggest thing is to stay on your routine. Don’t overindulge. That’s everything from eating out to sodium to alcohol.
If you’re having chest discomfort or you’re short of breath, sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s not a big moment where you say, my chest hurts. If you’re taking the trash out and you have to stop and take a breath and that’s never happened before, or you’re walking to the mailbox and you have to take a break, those are subtle signs that something is wrong, and you should get checked out.
You can go to the ER if you’re having discomfort and shortness of breath. And if your blood pressure is normally well controlled and you’ve had a lot of stress, and stress can be positive stress too, your blood pressure might creep up. You might want to reach out to your primary care provider and say, "Hey, this is creeping up."
Just be aware of yourself and your comfort level.
Kyle Kellams: Be reasonable, but also be checked in to what you’re doing and how you feel. Emily Turner, thank you so much. I hope you have as stress-free holidays as possible, and I hope we’re able to have this conversation again next year.
Emily Turner: Yes, absolutely.
Kyle Kellams: Emily Turner is a nurse practitioner with Mercy Northwest. She talked with me this morning about heart health during the holidays. This is Ozarks at Large.
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