Five Ways to Avoid a Heart Attack

Heart-attack season?

Most of us end the outgoing year and welcome the New Year with a crescendo of interesting and sometimes stressful, parties, festivals and celebrations.

Unfortunately, it is also a time when many people are vulnerable to heart attacks. Doctors have long known that December and January are the peak months for heart disease for many reasons, some of them avoidable.

Here are five tips to stay out of trouble this year ticker.

Do not drink too much

You hear a lot about how alcohol in moderation is good for the heart. Little do they know that there is clearly too bad.

Calling back too many drinks can raise blood pressure in the long term and trigger atrial fibrillation can cause irregular Heatbeat weaknesss, dizziness and chest pain in the short term.

"There are huge campaigns not drink and drive during the holidays, but nobody talks about the dangers of heart," says Samin Sharma, MD, director of interventional cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.

Be careful in the harsh winter

If you have heart disease (or who are at high risk), be careful during outdoor activities on cold days.

Cold weather can narrow blood vessels and cause the release of hormones, which can increase the risk of heart attack. At the end of the 1970 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 22% increase in heart-related deaths in Massachusetts after big storms.

Although snow shovel is because there are ways you can protect your heart (again) after a snowstorm.

Do not overeat

Eating a big meal, particularly a high-fat one could potentially trigger a heart attack.

A 2000 study of heart attack survivors, hinted that the period of two hours after a heavy meal is risky. Diverting blood from the heart to stimulate digestion can also angina, or heart-related chest pain.

"Overeating should be considered a trigger of heart attack, much in the same way that physical activities and severe episodes of extreme anger can cause a heart attack," says researcher Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, MD, cardiologist Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota

Do not assume that is acid reflux

Holiday Sweets, alcohol and large meals can trigger acid reflux and, therefore, the chest pain. (Here's how to avoid holiday heartburn.)

So it's not surprising that someone in the early stages of a heart attack could pose holiday taking place heartburn. (To find out why it is easy to confuse heartburn and heart attack.)

If in doubt, have it checked immediately!

Get prompt treatment

It is often quiet Christmas Day in hospital emergency rooms, and not because people are less likely to need emergency care. Instead, people wait, hoping the pain goes away. Then visit to peak in the days after Christmas.

But the faster you get help, the less likely heart muscle cells die due to lack of blood supply.

"In terms of a heart attack, time is muscle," says Julius M. Gardin, MD, chairman of the department of internal medicine at University Medical Center in Hackensack Hackensack, NJ