Many of us worry about having a heart attack – which isn’t surprising since heart disease is the country’s leading killer. One of the best ways to protect yourself (aside from getting fit and maintaining a normal weight) is to learn the symptoms, which can be different in women than men.

But you probably never thought about the impact of the time of day when you have a heart attack.

A new study in the journal Heart found that heart attacks that occur between 6 a.m. and noon are more likely to leave a larger portion of dead heart tissue than at any other time of day.

This is all related to your 24-hour body clock, which has an influence on cardiovascular processes, the researchers say. They looked at data from 811 patients who had heart attacks between 2003 and 2009 and found that patients who had had a heart attack in the morning had a 21 percent higher level of enzymes that are present in an attack than patients who were struck between midnight and 6 a.m.

The morning hours were also the time when patients were most likely to have a heart attack. Night was the least likely time.

How should you use this kind of data? The most important thing you can do is know the symptoms and get help immediately if you experience any of them. And don’t even think about driving yourself to the emergency room. Call 911.

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