Few systems in the body have more importance than the cardiovascular system, the passenger network of blood vessels, veins, and arteries that move oxygen and other vital nutrients throughout the body and are controlled by your heart. This tireless organ pumps blood everywhere, in a manner not unlike a plumbing system where water flows.
Without a functioning heart, we couldn’t live. To better care for it over the holidays, follow these basic steps without sacrificing the enjoyment of the festivities with family and friends. Cardiovascular issues during the fall and winter festivities are common enough to actually have a name: holiday heart syndrome.
Let's review common medical conditions that can cause holiday heart syndrome and find ways to reduce your risk. Melachton Mangoba, MD, and his experienced medical staff assist the residents of Riverside, California, with a range of medical problems, including cardiovascular disease.
This condition affects your heart rhythm, leading to short-term irregularities called arrhythmias. Over time, the chaotic electrical signals it causes can develop into atrial fibrillation, an arrhythmia that occurs in the upper chambers of the heart and increases the chances of stroke or heart failure.
Signs of this illness include:
How well you handle holiday heart syndrome is often influenced by your overall cardiovascular health.
This illness develops more often over the holidays than other times of the year due to specific overindulgence common as we celebrate: drinking and eating. Excess amounts of alcohol are consumed during the November and December holidays, and binge drinking can irritate the heart, causing the arrhythmias associated with this illness.
Combine the heavy alcohol with lots of sweet and salty snacks, and the overall stress of holiday travel and the gatherings themselves, and you have a recipe for cardiovascular problems. Factors that worsen the risk of holiday heart syndrome include obesity, high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, preexisting heart rhythm and cardiovascular diseases, using blood thinners, and diabetes.
To avoid the complications that come with this holiday health hazard, try these helpful tips:
You don’t have to avoid all the things you want to enjoy, but be mindful of how much eating and drinking you do to steer clear of heart issues.
Exercise is good for the heart, so whenever you have the opportunity, get up and walk to work off the holiday feast.
Stress does so much damage to the body, and all the work we put in to please everyone else this season contributes to it. Take a breath, accept the things you wanted to do but couldn’t, and relax.
If you’re on heart medications, you need to be careful with how much you drink and what foods you eat. If you’re thinking of taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to help your hangover, know that they can also add more cardiovascular stress and raise blood pressure.
Eat, drink, and be merry this holiday, but please be careful. Holiday heart syndrome can cause long-term medical harm. To avoid it, follow these tips and call 951-357-6032 or use online booking to make an appointment with Dr. Mangoba and his team today to address any related concerns.
