Research has shown that people are clearly more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday. In fact, the same goes for sudden cardiac death from life threatening heart rhythm problems, and death from other heart diseases. These findings are mainly true for the working population and hold true for men and women; however, this may not be true outside of the West. There is some evidence that in the Middle East the peak incidence of heart attacks is on Fridays, and in Japan it is during the weekend.

This supports an explanation that relates to the working week and related stressors. It’s possible that increased stress hormones triggered by the return to work can make heart plaques unstable and lead to a heart attack. There is no clear proof of that, however.

The most recent study to examine this trend was published in The European Journal of Epidemiology, based on an analysis of several previous studies in different countries.

It found that the risk of a heart attack was about 20 percent greater on Mondays for adult men, and 15 percent greater for adult women.

But, while most researchers have blamed the stress of returning to work for the increased risk, a few studies have suggested that additional factors may be involved.

One study, published in 2000 in The British Medical Journal, for example, identified the trend in a Scottish population but suggested that problems might be linked to heavier drinking over the weekend.

More Info: myheart.net