Don’t drop dead from merrymaking

It’s that time of year again of the Holiday Heart Syndrome. People over-indulge on cholesterols and alcohol, and party all night long. They stress themselves out from holiday traffic, shopping, budgeting, travelling, and entertaining houseguests. They lose time for rest and workout. They become so prone to strokes and heart attacks. Those who drive drunk face higher chances of serious or fatal accidents. Ironically many diagnostic clinics are closed for the holidays and doctors are on vacation.

“Christmas is the happiest, yet also the deadliest time of the year,” warns cardiologist and public health advocate Tony Leachon. Studies worldwide have shown that, in December to the New Year, blood pressures and sugar levels rise; colds, flu, and pneumonia spread; and fatigue and depression set in. In the Philippines, Leachon says, the Holiday Heart Syndrome stretches all the way to Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. Also an internist, he recounts one such yearend when in a ten-bed hospital where he worked, eight of the admitted patients were his. Today the holiday “victims” are younger, in their 30s to 40s, when those used to be in the 50s to 60s, Leachon laments.

There has been increased awareness about the Holiday Heart Syndrome and more people are having checkups before the holidays, Leachon says. Still lifestyle diseases from salty and sugary diets, smoking, and alcohol bingeing are on the rise. I’ve written about it thrice before. It’s time for a few reminders:  

Leachon draws from studies abroad to bolster his own domestic researches. Dr. Robert A. Kloner of the Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, is one source. Kloner had noted that the incidence of sudden death rises in the US during the little over one month from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. He attributes it to under-workout, stress and overindulgence. The cold weather constricts blood vessels. Merrymakers drop dead from the combination of unhealthy lifestyles.

Leachon says the holiday season is longer in the Philippines. It starts on the first week of December, encompassing Christmas, New Year and Three Kings’ Day, then extending to the Chinese New Year and Valentine’s. It’s not only the no-exercise, higher stress, and overeating and drinking that’s dangerous. There’s also the noise and air pollution from extra-loud music, and fumes from cigarettes and fireworks. Most holiday heart attacks and strokes in the Philippines occur in the early morning, when temperatures are coolest.

An independent director of Philhealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.), Leachon warns that heart and stroke patients are no longer the usual rich seniors. They’re getting younger and cut through all social classes. It’s because the Generation-X, now in the 30s, grew up on videogames instead of traditional physically strenuous sports. Junk food and soda, cigarette and alcohol are also readily available to rich and poor alike. Sixty percent of Filipino deaths today is due to non-communicable diseases: heart attack, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and lung ailment.

Workout is not enough, Leachon reminds. An average male must limit his intake to 1,800 calories a day; a female, 1,500; a serving of French fries gives 500 calories, a third of the day’s limit, but an hour on the treadmill can burn only 300 calories. Restraint is best. Cut down on the lechon, beer and, most of all, salt and sugar – now.

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The murder of businessman Dominic SyTin inside Subic Freeport last week has incensed and saddened political and business leaders. In auctioning used heavy equipment and commercial vehicles, he enabled local governments to implement emergency public works. At the same time he gave small constructors a chance to bid for major works against the biggies. At 51, Dominic had changed the Philippine landscape. No less than the President and most senators are interested in swift justice for his killing.

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