Christmas Medical Issues

The Christmas Season is one filled with a great deal of joy and happiness. We need to take care to keep it that way. Prevention in the first place is better than having to cure things. There are a number of medical issues associated with this time of year.

We have made some strides in drunk driving deaths over the years. In the 1980’s between 10,000 and 12,000 people died every year in accidents caused by drunk drivers. From 2010 to 2019 there were less than 7,000 deaths.

However, for the last few years the numbers have climbed again. In 2022 there were 8,010 deaths. That averaged 668 deaths per month. Unfortunately, there were 1,062 of those deaths in December alone. That left the average number per month for the other 11 months at only 631. December was easy the deadliest month.

Nighttime driving was a particular issue. From 6 PM to 6 AM 30 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes were drunk. That number goes up to almost half (47 percent) during the hours of Midnight to 3 AM.

Young drivers were also at higher risk. The age group 21years to 34 years accounted for 27 percent of alcohol-impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes.

December is the worst month. A crash fatality is not going to make for a merry Christmas for family members. If you are sponsoring a party, you need to pay attention to younger drivers leaving after midnight. Get someone who is sober to drive them home.

Christmas decorating is lots of fun. It can also be dangerous. There are an average of 18,400 emergency room visits for each year for decorating accidents. Half of those are related to falls.

That is especially true for outdoor decorations. If you need a ladder to put up decorations, you increase the risk. If you climb more than four rungs on that latter, you are asking for an injury to happen. Of the falls that show up in the ER, half of those are from ladders.

Another large group of falls are related to tripping over extension cords. Avoiding these is a good idea. If you cannot do so, at least tape them down.

Lacerations from non electric decorations are the next most common injury. They account for almost as many injuries as falls.

Christmas is a time for meals and company. Often the food is left out longer than it should be. The result is that bacteria can grow. That means that food poisoning is more common with leftovers since freshly cooked food is usually eaten right away. Make sure that uneaten food follows the two hour rule. If it is sitting out for more than two hours, it should be headed for the garbage and not the refrigerator.

December is a month where snow is possible. Snow shoveling is hard work. The older you are, the less snow you should shovel. There is a physiologic reason for this. The weather is cold when it snows. When you go out into cold weather your blood vessels partially clamp down to retain heat. As you age your blood vessels as less open. If you then add exercise as a third factor, you are asking for more potential trouble the older you get. There are some medical recommendations that say never shovel snow after age 65 and do it sparingly after age 45.

Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends. There are ways you can spoil the fun. And all of them are preventable.