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Deadly heart attacks are more common on a Monday

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239 points giuliomagnifico | 3 comments | 06 Jun 23 13:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.538s | source
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ZFleck ◴[06 Jun 23 14:01 UTC] No.36212917[source]▶
I've read a bit into this subject before; Matthew Walker's book 'Why We Sleep'[0] discusses it at length.

A lot of it boils down to blood pressure. High blood pressure is a serious contributing factor to cardiovascular incidents (as well as a slew of other negative health risks), and getting a good night's sleep will help keep blood pressure down. This is also why the amount of heart attacks are up around 24% after daylight savings[1]; an hour less sleep means higher blood pressure means higher risk of heart attack (relative to any other 'normal' day).

I can definitely see how the same logic could apply to Mondays. Less sleep, more stress = higher blood pressure = higher risk of heart attacks.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18971502/

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1. m463 ◴[06 Jun 23 21:43 UTC] No.36219491[source]▶
I feel really good with a sleep rhythm going to bed later each day and getting up later the next day.

I think many people do the same sort of thing, and then monday -- they have to cut their sleep short to get up early and sync with the rest of the world.

I can see how this would be the stressor you allude to.

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2. samtho ◴[06 Jun 23 21:50 UTC] No.36219539[source]▶
This is because our circadian rhythms are naturally found to be about 25 hours absent external stimuli or timekeeping devices.
3. asdfman123 ◴[06 Jun 23 22:10 UTC] No.36219741[source]▶
It's so much better going to sleep and waking up the same time every day.

The only problem is it's often incompatible with a social life when you're in your 20s, but thankfully I'm not in my 20s anymore.