Halloween is a time for “trick or treat” and being scared. However, is it possible that a scary haunted house could provoke a heart attack or even worse?
The short answer is that for nearly everyone, the risk is low. However, it is worth understanding what happens inside the body when we’re frightened and who might face greater danger.
What Actually Happens to Us When We Are Scared?
When you are scared, or when your body faces a stressful experience, there is a rush of chemicals that go down the blood stream, which act within milliseconds to help us shift energy toward fighting off that stressor. “Fight-or-flight” is what many in the science field call this, which is an automatic nervous system response releasing the chemicals adrenaline and cortisol.
Ultimately, the adrenaline kicks in to increase your heart rate to increase blood and oxygen pumping through your body. This provides essential oxygen and nutrition to body parts like muscles in case one needs to run fast or fight.
The stressful encounter also raises your blood pressure immediately due to an increase in cortisol. If one remains stressed, their blood pressure can be elevated for a longer period of time.
While much of this acute stress can put a load on your heart, it is different than complete shocker stress, where the brain isn’t anticipating a stressful encounter. This is due to human brains being quite smart at processing and having some understanding to expect a scary experience. Examples of surprise stress would be receiving sudden bad news, such as a family member becoming ill or dying.
People with preexisting heart disease are the most at risk if they enter a haunted house, but most of these patients already understand to use caution in stressful environments. The excess rise in heart rate and blood pressure can be detrimental to these individuals.
The risk for heart related complication from adrenaline is there in theory, but we have adrenaline surges all the time at different parts of the day. Therefore, the benefits of being out and active, which leads to more satisfaction and decreased stress long term, probably far outweigh the risks of sudden heart attack and irregular heartbeat for most individuals.
Does Halloween Increase the Risk of Heart Complications?
There was a study conducted that investigated whether Halloween caused the risk of heart complications to increase. The study did not find any increase in heart complications such as a heart attack on the day of Halloween, but it did find a slight increase in heart attacks one day later.
The authors of the study hypothesized that increased Halloween treats, such as sugary and processed candy, can put an individual into an inflammatory state, which we absolutely know can increase the risk of an acute heart attack. Unfortunately, it is not easy to predict who would be at greater risk, as most of these individuals are usually younger males younger than age 50 without known heart disease.
To summarize, most individuals without preexisting heart disease can have scary fun during Halloween safely from a heart health standpoint. Eating candy and other processed foods should be done in moderation.
It is important to seek medical care with a primary care physician or cardiologist if you have been having increased shortness of breath, such as being winded or tired from exertional activity suddenly. Any pain, pressure, tightness or heaviness in your chest would also be an alarming symptom, not only during Halloween but any day.
UofL Health is Here for You
Visit UofL Physicians – Primary Care or call 502-588-4343 to find a primary care provider near you if you need one. Our Primary Care offices accept many types of health insurance and have self-pay options.
UofL Physicians – Cardiology and UofL Physicians – Cardiology Associates are leading the way in developing innovative treatments for many heart disorders. Our multidisciplinary team consists of experts in cardiology, rheumatology and pulmonary disease. Click here to see all locations where UofL Health provides cardiology services.
If you ever feel like you are having a heart attack or you cannot breathe, call 911 or visit a UofL Health – Emergency Department.
