it is known that there is many health problems occur at Christmas times. it said that it is so stressful, it can affect their health,there are more heart attacks more accidents and Christmas clearly can be a difficult time for some patient groups, such as those with family difficulties or mental health problems.

This year Christmas came on our Muslim weekend day the  Thursday , i was on call ,and all our Christian staff   hated being in the hospital, i hated being there because  in weekends there are fewer services and limited test we can do , for example MRIs and biopsies...less subspecialities on call than the rest of the week.

I admitted this lady with myelofibrosis who also have an advance case of Alzheimer  and she was a DNR PATIENT . I admitted her because she was  in sepsis secondary to infection in peritoneum cavity fluids ....after we drain about 5 liters of this fluid ,she became more alert  and coherent ,she talked to her  family and they were happy, her daughter  said to me " thank you for bringing  our mother back"...those words scared the hill out  of me..because I know how fragile their Mom is....Then about 5 hours later she collapsed and died, but her family were satisfied they were able to talk to their mother and she was able to know their latest life events....

In our Muslims secular holidays we have the same pressure of planning for celebrations and the coming together of family members can also be a cause of stress that is usually over once the EID comes. It is interestingly different   in the hospitals  as usually we have less patients as they usually want to be discharged early to spend time with their families . ER also has less visits than the rest of the year..Most of those patient are having uncontrolled blood sugars or gastrointestinal upsets from all the consistent dining on high fat meals..I don't think there are fewer people getting sick at those times , or fewer people having accidents. they just do not want to come .. We also increase in the number of patients who go against medical advice to continue their celebration with their loved one..But it is true that entire hospitals will be filled with doctors and nurses who didn't want to be there.

I do not know why we do not have more heart attacks or stroke or traumatic events in our Eids . May be because we are used to live around our families to the extent that we actually learn how to get stressed by there presence to enjoy them more. Or may be because of the festive  alcohol  drinking alone  in Christmas is causing more added risks  on physical and emotional wellbeing ....

Whatever the cause everyone should be able to enjoy their special celebration times, so take of yourselves ,eat healthy and whenever it is too much for you just take time out..