CuisineWire -- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas but, as we set about organising food, presents and parties, we should also be planning how to survive the season, says a leading health testing expert.

Dr Avinash Hari Narayanan (MBChB), Clinical Lead at London Medical Laboratory, says: 'Christmas is widely considered to be a joyful and relaxing time, but for many it's anything but. There are no glad tidings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which says December and January are the most common months of death in the UK.

'Concerningly, the highest concentration of cardiac-related deaths is during Christmas time. Research published in the US journal "Circulation" shows that 4% more people die of heart problems during the Christmas holiday compared to even the mid-winter average. Most fatal of all is Christmas Day. It has the highest number of cardiac deaths that occur rapidly after presentation of a medical problem. In second and third place are 26 December and New Year's Day.

'Why can Christmas be so dangerous?  Research from the University of Melbourne reveals an increase in heart attacks around the festive period may be because accessing hospitals is more difficult. The UK's winter peak in deaths from cardiovascular disease is likely to be linked to high cholesterol and high blood pressure; both are known to climb around the holiday season. Rich foods, excess alcohol and the stress of meeting relatives we've been avoiding all year can be a lethal combination.

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'Having access to information about your health is always beneficial, especially at a time when we are all tempted to eat fattier and richer foods than normal. With GP surgeries extremely busy at this time of year, people worried about their cholesterol levels do have alternatives.

'London Medical Laboratory's revolutionary and convenient home finger-prick Cholesterol Profile test measures total cholesterol, LDL "bad cholesterol", HDL "good" cholesterol, non-HDL (a newly adopted, more accurate, measure) and other key markers. It can be taken at home through the post, or at one of the many drop-in clinics that offer these tests across London and nationwide in over 95 selected pharmacies and health stores. For full details, see: https://www.londonmedicallaboratory.com/product/cholesterol-profile