Serious heart attacks are more likely to happen on a Monday than at any other time, research has suggested.
The study found that the likelihood of a heart attack occurring on a Monday was 13% greater than expected.
Doctors at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland analysed data from 10,528 patients across the island of Ireland – 7,112 in the Republic and 3,416 in Northern Ireland.
They had been admitted to hospital between 2013 and 2018 with the most serious type of heart attack – an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) which takes place when a major coronary artery is completely blocked.
The researchers found a spike in STEMI heart attacks at the start of the working week, with rates highest on a Monday.
There were also higher than expected rates on a Sunday, according to the findings presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference in Manchester.
Scientists have been unable to fully explain this “Blue Monday” phenomenon.
Previous studies suggesting heart attacks are more likely on a Monday highlighted an association with circadian rhythm – the body’s sleep or wake cycle.
According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) there are more than 30,000 hospital admissions due to STEMI each year in the UK.
The attack requires emergency assessment and treatment to minimise damage to the heart, normally performed with emergency angioplasty – a procedure to reopen the blocked coronary artery.
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 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 future.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here