Researchers in the U.K. and Ireland found serious heart attacks are more likely to happen on Monday than any other day of the week.
Researchers from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland analyzed data from more than 10,000 patients across the island of Ireland admitted to hospitals for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) heart attacks between 2013 and 2018. STEMI heart attacks occur when a major coronary artery is completely blocked, according to a June 4 British Heart Foundation new release.
Researchers found STEMI heart attack rates spike at the start of the work week with the highest rates on Monday. There were also high rates on Sunday.
"We've found a strong statistical correlation between the start of the working week and the incidence of STEMI," cardiologist Jack Laffan, MD, who led the research at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said in the release. "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."