Heart attack between 1 & 5 am deadliest

Study Reveals Brain Releases Hormones During Sleep Which Put Strain On The Organ

New Delhi: Scientific studies have revealed that heart attacks are worst when they take place between 1 am and 5 am. 
    Researchers say the size of the heart attack and the subsequent left-ventricular function is significantly different based on the time of the attack. 
    Astudy on humans, published online in the reputed journal "Circulation Research", says "the greatest amount of injury to the heart occurs when individuals have a heart attack between 1 am and 5 am". 
    Indian doctors agreed. Dr Ramakant Panda, cardiac surgeon at Asian Heart Institute, said, "There are different phases of sleep. Early morning sleep is called rapid eye movement sleep during which people dream. The body is asleep but the mind is awake. The autonomous nervous system is stimulated which releases hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase the activity of the heart which beats and works harder. But the hormones constrict the blood supply to the heart." 
    Chairman of Escorts Heart Institute Dr Ashok Seth said, "One main reason why heart attacks are worst at night is because people wait till morning to go and get an ECG. Initially, they rubbish it by thinking its indigestion and take some antacids. Instead if it occurred in the morning, people would immediately go to the hospital for an ECG." 
    "We were trying to ascertain whether the time of day when a heart attack occurs influences the amount of damage that the heart sustains," said the study's senior author Jay H Traverse, a cardiologist at Minneapolis Heart. 
    An analysis of 1,031 patients of acute heart attack identified 165 patients with their firstheart attack who had blocked arteries. 
    What are the implications of these findings? "It is important to understand that theheart's ability to protect itself against more severe damage varies over a 24-hour cycle. Identifying those protective changes may be particularly relevant for pharmaceutical manufacturers that are seeking to develop cardioprotective drugs," Traverse added.