Cardiologist explains why your heart attack risk doubles at night: ‘This is when blood vessels tighten, blood pressure…’

Does your heart attack risk double at night? According to Dr Dmitry Yaranov, MD, cardiologist, this becomes true for people who have untreated high blood pressure or unstable plaques, or who just forget taking their heart health medications on time. In an Instagram post shared on September 4, the cardiologist explained how this happens.

Most people think heart attacks strike randomly. But your highest risk is in the early morning hours, while you’re still in bed.(Freepik)

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This is how your heart attack risk doubles at night

According to the cardiologist, most people think that heart attacks strike randomly. However, he pointed out that your highest risk is in the early morning hours while you’re still in bed.

He explained that this is the time when stress hormones like cortisol surge, blood vessels tighten, and blood pressure spikes. “For someone with untreated high blood pressure or unstable plaques, that’s a dangerous combination. And here’s what most people miss: if you skip doses, if you take meds at inconsistent times, your body’s defences aren’t ready for that morning surge,” the cardiologist added.

He warned, “Sometimes, the first symptom is the last.”

What is the best time to take blood pressure medicine?

If you take blood pressure medicine, when do you take it: morning or night? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), blood pressure medication may confer a larger benefit if taken at night, rather than in the morning. The report highlights a Spanish study of more than 19,000 patients that found that taking the medication so that it works overnight cuts the risk of heart-related death and disease nearly in half.

Per the study’s lead author, Ramon Hermida, director of the Bio-engineering and Chrono-biology Labs at the University of Vigo in Spain, “The same medication ingested at different times of the day actually has different pharmacological properties, behaving like a totally different medication.”

Note to readers: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.

This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.