American College of Cardiology

Seasonal Variation in Cardiovascular Mortality More Pronounced in the Elderly

(Jun. 1, 1999) Previous research has established that people are more likely to die of heart attacks and strokes in the winter than in the summer. A number of risk factors, including cholesterol and blood pressure, are higher in the winter than in the summer. The reasons for these differences are not certain, but researchers speculate that climactic factors, especially temperature, may play an important role. Now, researchers in Canada and the United States have studied data from 300,000 deaths in the Canadian Mortality Database. Their results confirmed previous findings of a seasonal variation but found that the variation occurred only among the elderly, with the greatest increases seen in very elderly patients who were more than 85 years of age. Better understanding of the causes of these seasonal patterns may lead to improvement in cardiovascular disease prevention, say the researchers.

The American College of Cardiology, a 24,000-member nonprofit professional medical society and teaching institution, is dedicated to fostering optimal cardiovascular care and disease prevention through professional education, promotion of research, leadership in the development of standards and guidelines, and the formulation of health care policy.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) provides these news reports of clinical studies published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology as a service to physicians, the media, the public, and other interested parties. However, statements or opinions expressed in these reports reflect the view of the author(s) and do not represent official policy of the ACC unless stated so.

Back to June Releases