Heart attacks in Southern California, where Democrats voted, jump 53% after 2020 US Election

Heart attack cases in Southern California, where Democratic votes rose 53% after the 2020 US presidential election, according to a study.

But in Northern California, where nearly half of counties voted for Trump, it increased 32 percent less.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente, the state’s largest healthcare system, tracked five-day hospitalizations for heart problems in 6.4 million patients two weeks before the election. They then watched the shootings for five days immediately after the ballots were released.

Southern California also had larger spikes in heart failure (where muscles stopped pumping effectively) than its northern neighbor.

The researchers blamed “anger” and “hostility” amid the narrow results to the opposite, and warned that stress can cause heart problems.

But they warned that other factors, such as Covid and extreme weather conditions, may have triggered the increase in admissions.

They recommended that Americans meditate, practice yoga, and practice “mindfulness” to manage stress during elections.

The map above shows which president supports each state of California in 2020. In the south, nine-tenths supported Biden, while in the north 22 out of 46 voted for Trump.

For years, scientists have pointed to the link between the US presidential election and the rise in heart attacks.

They largely blame the stress on the announcement of the ballot papers and the expectations for the outcome of the rate hike. Stress is known to increase the risk of heart problems.

The 2020 presidential race has been a fierce battle, with Republicans calling for rapid recounts in many states over allegations of election fraud and changing numbers.

In the study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Open Network, scientists investigated hospital admissions for heart problems between October 21 and 25, nine days before the election.

This was compared to November 4-8 during the controversial results period immediately after the election and before a winner was announced on November 7.

Kaiser Permanente’s network is the largest in California, covering 20% ​​of people in the south and 30% of people in the north.

Most of the patients were between the ages of 18-54 (62%).

They were split equally between men and women, and more than 40% were white.

The health system did not record which candidate patients voted for.

But in Southern California, nine out of 10 states supported Biden, while 22 out of 46 states in the north voted for Trump.

Southern California’s heart attack hospitalization rate was 141 in a 100,000 person year a week before the election. But over the next five days it rose to 216 per 100,000.

By comparison, in Northern California the rate went from 145 to 192 per 100,000.

The number of people hospitalized for heart failure in Southern California rose 19 percent from 245 to 293.

The stroke rate in the region increased 14% from 346 to 396 per 100,000.

In Northern California, the heart failure rate rose 16 percent from 216 to 252, but the stroke rate fell 17 percent from 246 to 205.

Overall, white men in their 70s were most at risk of heart problems after the election.

Cardiovascular disease epidemiologist at Kaiser, Dr. Researchers led by Matthew Mefford cautioned that emotions such as “anger and hostility” are associated with “new and recurrent heart disease, as well as the early development of cardiovascular disease.”

“Furthermore, anxiety is often linked to CVD risk factors (heart attack risk factor) that precipitate atherosclerosis.”

They said: “As the 2020 election approaches and in the next few days, there have been reports of widespread election fraud, changing timelines for counting and reporting votes by mail and in person, changing vote totals, and speculating that the results were not recognized by one of the presidential candidates.

“While speculative, the combination of these factors may have created an emotionally charged atmosphere in the United States, regardless of demographic or political affiliation.”

The scientists did not explain why the number of strokes increased in one area and decreased in another.

The chart above shows hospital admissions for all heart problems in California before the elections (control window) and after the elections (grey window). The average (black line) increases by 17 percent over this period

The chart above shows the average number of hospitalizations for heart attack (black line) in the period before (control window) and after (risk window) the US elections. According to Kaiser Permanente researchers, a 40 percent increase emerges

The graph above shows the mean heart failure rate (black line) both before (control window) and immediately after (risk window) the US elections. Between the two periods, rates rose 18% in the state, scientists say

The chart above shows the average number of hits (black line) before (control window) and after (risk window) the US presidential election in 2020. It shows an increase of two percent.

They added that concerns about the Covid pandemic “cannot be ignored” contributing to the higher rate of heart problems.

However, he noted that any stress from this risk occurred over “a much larger and longer period of time,” meaning the spike is unlikely to be explained.

Bad weather, such as heavy rains and fires, may also have contributed to an increase in heart problems.

The findings overlap with a separate article from the 2016 presidential election, which also points to an increase in heart problems following Trump’s victory.

Within two days of the victory being announced, it found that heart problems had increased 62 percent across the state.

A separate North Carolina article sponsored by Trump in 2016 showed that heart attack rates rose 77 percent in the six weeks after the election.