The influx of campaign news and political advertisements can activate a fight-or-flight response that alters the heart's electrical activity. Observational studies analyzing recent presidential contests demonstrate notable upticks in hospitalizations and irregular heartbeats around voting periods. While these findings show an association rather than direct causation, secondary factors like poor sleep, dietary shifts, and skipped medications further escalate these cardiovascular risks.
Key points
Election-related emotional stress drives hormonal spikes that can trigger dangerous irreg…: Election-related emotional stress drives hormonal spikes that can trigger dangerous irregular heart rhythms.
The surge in post-voting heart attack hospitalizations closely mirrors patterns typically…: The surge in post-voting heart attack hospitalizations closely mirrors patterns typically observed following major natural disasters.
Individuals with diagnosed cardiovascular diseases or undiagnosed high blood pressure fac…: Individuals with diagnosed cardiovascular diseases or undiagnosed high blood pressure face the greatest danger during politically fraught periods.
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The reminders to vote in Tuesday’s midterms are ubiquitous. Some health scholars have another reminder: that elections, especially divisive ones, can stress the heart.
Studies have found a significantly higher chance of arrhythmias in the weeks just before and after elections, and an increased rate of hospitalizations for heart attacks right after voting day.
“Your political party doesn’t matter to your heart; stress does,” Lindsey Rosman, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Northwestern University, told STAT on Thursday. “Your emotional health and your heart health are connected.”
Take the last two presidential elections. Compared to other timeframes, researchers noted distinct changes in early November that aligned with heightened anxiety. Even if transient, higher blood pressure or abnormal heart rhythms can turn serious for people diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, or for those unaware of a condition that might make them more vulnerable.
What research on 2016 and 2020 found
To see how elections may stress the heart, Rosman studied people who already had a heart rhythm disorder, taking advantage of data provided by their implanted cardiac devices.…
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