These Are The Most Common Health Risks During Christmas

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Yes, it indeed is, this also means there is going to be a feast, marshmallows dipped in chocolate while you sip a cup of hot chocolate. But, this over indulgence could actually make your health worse, especially if you already have a health condition.

It may come as a shock, but the most number of heart attacks happen during the Christmas Holidays up to the week leading to the New Year's. As per the American Heart Association, heart attack deaths spike during the winter holidays, with heart attacks increasing on December 24, the Christmas eve, by 37%.

Why does this happen?

Holiday indulgence, inactivity and cold weather could lead to tighter arteries, which restrict blood flow and reduce oxygen to the heart. Overeating rich, salty foods and drinking alcohol during the holidays or festivals also strains your heart and increases the risk of heart attacks.

What are the other big health risks during Christmas?

Overeating

Many people gain on a few pounds between Halloween-to-Christmas. But how do you cope from the wish to eat everything. Well, there is a mind trick. It may sound counterintuitive, but it works. Experts say, try visualizing yourself eating that food and imagine the taste of it and after you have done it for a long time, your desire to eat that would be gone! Doesn't this sound like almost a Christmas miracle?

Holiday Depression

When everyone is happy around you and you are stuck in office or unable to go home visit your family, it makes you feel depressed. Plus, the winter, the gloomy weather and lack of sunlight may make it worse.

Experts point out that holiday period could be stressful for many. Parties, gift giving, food and alcohol intake, and the rush to make the deadlines meet to keep your Christmas eve, and the week leading to New Year's free could increase the feeling of sadness and depression. It can lead to what psychologists say, "holiday blues". This is a seasonal sadness and when holidays end, the blues to typically recede.

However, though seasonal, it could very well be depression and would need treatment.

Another problem is the New Year's Dread. This is because most people fail to fulfill their resolutions in just two weeks of starting the new year, this leaves them feeling disappointed and sometimes depressed.

A rise in ER Visits

United States Consumer Product Safety Commission's 2013 report, though old, but still relevant, reports that more than 15,000 holiday decorating injuries occur between November to December.

Many people get injured decorating the Christmas tree, or off unsteady ladder, electric shocks and sometimes cold and contagious illness for being out in the cold for too long to decorate the house.

Food Poisoning

Over indulgence could not only lead to overeating, but also to food poisoning. People at parties tend to let the food sit out on the dining table without being refrigerated, and this also allows food to get exposed to cross-contamination.

These could ruin the Christmas fun, thus it is important to ensure that you enjoy, but take of things too and keep you indulgence moderate.