Everyone dreads Mondays. They
mark the start of another workweek and worse still the
end of the weekend. But Mondays can be more than just
a drag, they can be downright dangerous. A study in the
July 22 electronic issue of Stroke documented an
increased risk of ischemic stroke on Mondays, particularly
among the economically disadvantaged elderly in Finland.
Another article in the same issue reported that in highly
socialist Sweden, death due to subarachnoid hemorrhaging
(SAH) has declined from 1985 to 2000. Taken together,
these studies lend support to the health value of a state-subsidized
social care network like Canada's.
The first study, headed by Dr Jakovljevic
Dimitrije of the National Public Health Institute in
Helsinki, Finland, examined records of 12,801 ischemic
strokes compiled in a population-based registry between
1982 and 1992. The incidence of stroke was examined
by the day of the week, age, sex and socioeconomic status
(based on taxable income and level of education).
The incidence of strokes bottomed
out on Sundays, regardless of the other factors. Variation
in occurrence was noted during the week, especially
among people of low socioeconomic status aged 60 to
74. These folks were hit with strokes almost 14% below
the weekly average on Sundays. But, the next day, their
luck ran out, when their incidence of stroke was a whopping
18% higher than the Monday average. In contrast, wealthier
and better-educated Finns did not exhibit this Monday
spike. Why do poorer Finns get short-changed? The link
isn't completely clear but the researchers conclude
that social status is definitely a contributing factor.
Dr Dimitrije and his colleagues
wrote that the finding has "substantial public health
interest" and will "open up some possibilities for prevention."
In the second study, Birgitta Stegmayr,
PhD and her colleagues at Ume? University in Sweden
reported on their review of 984 cases of SAH from 1985
to 2000. They found that the number of men who suffered
such rupturing of the blood vessels dropped by just
over three percent each year. The trend didn't hold
true for women, however, the death rate from the hemorrhaging
dropped in women by nearly four percent annually.
Like Canada, Finland and Sweden
have an extensive social support network. This support
may contribute to the longterm increased health of some
of the subjects who were studied. Still, as everywhere
else, being lower down on the socioeconomic ladder carries
a burden.
Although ischemic stroke cuts off
blood flow to the brain of over 40,000 Canadians each
year, no similar investigation to the Finnish study
of weekly occurrence has been done in Canada ? not yet
anyway.
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