Even with good physical health care, it does not guarantee that you will be free from diseases or ailments forever. For example, emergency heart conditions can occur suddenly. A New Year’s party may suddenly trigger heart disease symptoms, even if no abnormalities were previously detected. However, if there’s a risk, the disease could occur.

Understanding Holiday Heart Syndrome

Holiday Heart Syndrome is directly related to young adults who have little rest, lack of sleep, and engage in heavy partying for several nights in a row, especially those who consume a large amount of alcohol in a short period or over several days. Therefore, to prevent such conditions before they unexpectedly occur, it’s vital to know the risk factors to determine if you fall into the at-risk group. It may be necessary to have a physical examination and identify these risks.

Sudden Heart Diseases

Sudden heart diseases, such as emergency heart conditions, can occur even if no abnormalities were previously detected. Just by having risk factors, you could experience these conditions. It is found that even without any symptoms leading up, having a risk history could result in experiencing disease conditions such as:

1. Acute Coronary Artery Occlusion (Plaque Rupture) leading to ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction. It is found that there’s already a risk of vascular disease, whether it’s in older men, combined with high blood pressure, high blood lipids, diabetes, smoking, lack of exercise, obesity, chronic stress, or possibly a family history of coronary artery disease. Symptoms of this disease may occur suddenly, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, constriction, pain radiating to the jaw or arms, sweating, and palpitations, and may occur during physical activity or exercise.
2. Emergency Dissecting Aortic Aneurysm whose risk factors are similar to those of acute coronary artery occlusion, or there may have been a history of an enlarged aorta detected previously, or problems with other arteries in the body being narrowed before, etc. The symptom of this disease is sudden tight chest pain that pierces through to the back.
3. Acute Atrial Fibrillation or Holiday Heart Syndrome is when a heart rhythm disorder occurs suddenly. It may be found in people who have little rest, lack of sleep, engage in heavy partying for several nights in a row, and consume a large amount of alcohol over several days. Patients will experience palpitations, blackout, dizziness, and irregular pulse.

Recognizing Heart Disease, Diagnose to Be Sure

Generally, symptoms directly caused by heart diseases occur suddenly, which may resemble the symptoms of insufficient rest, lack of sleep, like fainting, which usually happens once and then disappears. But if it is caused by heart diseases, the symptoms often do not resolve themselves and may recur after getting better. However, if it is caused by heart diseases, other physical abnormalities are usually detected as well. Therefore, it is important to diagnose to make sure that it is not just fainting from lack of rest, especially in people with the aforementioned risk factors. Furthermore, lack of rest, sleep deprivation, and heavy partying along with consuming a large amount of alcohol and doing so over several days to the extreme, not only triggers heart diseases but also symptoms of other disease systems.

Everyone’s daily life is filled with thoughts and plans, sometimes you might forget how crucial your health is. Those at risk should live cautiously, avoiding or controlling risk factors as much as possible, such as managing high blood pressure, controlling sugar in people at risk of diabetes, and controlling diet in people with high blood cholesterol. During long holidays, enough rest should be prioritized, avoid heavy alcohol consumption and drink plenty of water.

But if it cannot be avoided or if there are symptoms indicative of acute coronary syndromes, it is important to see a specialist at a hospital equipped for emergency medical care. Bangkok Heart Hospital is ready to provide treatment 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with an emergency medical team specialized in cardiology and thoracic medicine, equipped with medical equipment such as Transport ECMO, a system for transporting critically ill patients equipped with high-grade medical devices, along with an emergency medical team, nurses, and various interdisciplinary professional teams for full-capacity treatment.