Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction or myth when it comes to health.

I know people both in law enforcement and the health industry who swear that full moons are the worse times for crazies, crimes, accidents and weird injuries. Is it fact or myth? According to one report:

“For example, researchers Ivan Kelly, James Rotton, and Roger Culver, in their study ‘The Moon was Full and Nothing Happened’ (published in the book ‘The Hundredth Monkey and Other Paradigms of the Paranormal,’ 1991) examined more than 100 studies of alleged lunar effects and found no significant correlation between phases of the moon and disasters, homicide rates, etc. Furthermore, there is no known mechanism by which the moon would somehow influence a person’s mind to make him more dangerous—except of course for his own expectations.”

However, some say that when people have the psychological belief that full moons are linked to more incidents, they will look for them or be more susceptible to them, which is more of an indirect effect than a real effect of a full moon.

Here is another one to consider – more people suffer heart attacks at Christmas time than other times of the year?

If you ask my one of my closest friends, he would say both the full moon thing and people dying of heart attacks at Christmas time are true. Jim was a state law enforcement officer until he retired and says he saw more than his fair share of full moon events. As for the heart attack thing, on December 26, 2008, his wife Charlene died from a sudden and massive heart attack.

Is that a coincidence or is there truth to more heart attacks at Christmas time true?

According to a recent report it’s true:

“In a study that’s sure to put a damper on your holiday cheer, researchers are warning that Christmas Eve is actually one of the most dangerous times of year for your heart. According to Sweden’s Lund University researchers, a person’s risk for heart attack reaches its peak when the clock strikes 10 p.m. on Dec. 24.”

“‘The peak is very pronounced exactly on Christmas Eve and the following two days, so, I think it is something specific for the way we celebrate these holidays,’ David Erling, Lund University cardiologist, told The Telegraph.”

“The study, published in the British Medical Journal, analyzed 238,000 heart attacks in Sweden between 1998 and 2013. While researchers found an average of 50 heart attacks per day occurred, the number spiked to 69 on Christmas Eve, with incidents typically occurring around 10 p.m.”

“‘We do not know for sure but emotional distress with acute experience of anger, anxiety, sadness, grief and stress increases the risk of a heart attack,’ Erling told The Telegraph. ‘Excessive food intake, alcohol, long distance traveling may also increase the risk’.”

Christmas is definitely a time of joy and happiness, but it’s also a time of great stress and emotions. People stress over getting gifts for everyone necessary, getting the right gifts, traveling, inviting the right people, getting everything baked on time and especially stress of being able to financially pay for everything. Then you have people, like my friend Jim, who will be remembering this Christmas as the 10th anniversary of his wife’s death. Even if a spouse, parent, sibling or any other loved one didn’t die close the holiday, they are remembered and missed at Christmas, which puts extra stress on people.

The best way to avoid being another Christmas statistic, find ways to relieve stress. Some turn to exercise, some to reading, some to meditation, some to prayer and some just keep themselves busy. Another proven stress reliever is petting a dog. Whatever it takes, don’t stress over the holiday and you just might avoid being another Christmas heart attack victim and statistic.