I must admit, I’m really starting to feel all Christmassy (yes, you guessed it, lucky old “all Christmassy”), what with the Black Friday Weekend already going strong, only 31 SLEEPS until the big day, and the Decision Marketing Festive Lunch Calendar bulging at the seams, seasonal joy – and seasonal booze – is flowing strongly.
Mind you, there are always those who can’t help but put a dampener on it, and, right on time, a new press release landed in my inbox, courtesy of the Jonahs of the London Medical Laboratory.
As clinical lead Dr Avinash Hari “chuckles” Narayanan (MBChB) explained: “Christmas is widely considered to be a joyful and relaxing time, but for many it’s anything but. There are no glad tidings from the Office for National Statistics, which says December and January are the most common months of death in the UK.”
See, told you they are a miserable bunch. But there’s more…
“Concerningly, the highest concentration of cardiac-related deaths is during Christmas time. Research published in the US journal Circulation shows that 4% more people die of heart problems during the Christmas holiday compared to even the mid-winter average. Most fatal of all is Christmas Day. It has the highest number of cardiac deaths that occur rapidly after presentation of a medical problem. In second and third place are December 26 and New Year’s Day.”
Hmm must try to get hold of a copy of Circulation, that sounds like a right riveting read.
Yet, not content with trying to frighten us to death, the London Medical Laboratory goes on to back up its claims by providing a list of famous people “associated with Christmas who, in fact, died on Christmas Day”.
First up, there’s poor old George Michael, whose Last Christmas was in 2016 when he reportedly died from a diseased heart (dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver).
Then we have Dean Martin, singer of Christmas favourites such as Silver Bells and But Baby it’s Cold Outside, who snuffed it on Christmas Day 1995 from acute respiratory failure.
And finally James Brown, who recorded James Brown sings Christmas Songs and A Soulful Christmas, and died of congestive heart failure on Christmas Day 2006.
Apparently, rich foods, excess alcohol and the stress of meeting relatives we’ve been avoiding all year can be a lethal combination. Then again, so can reading London Medical Laboratory press releases.
Luckily, I have just got time to stuff down some mince pies and a few glasses of prosecco before today’s Christmas lunch date…
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