"There is always temptation to abandon healthy living routines, to eat too much and not to get enough exercise, when everyone is cheerful and enjoying a good time," says a 59-year-old woman surnamed He, who lives in Ankang, Shaanxi province, and has high blood pressure.

Zhou Aiguo, vice-director with the emergency department of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, notes uncontrolled eating, emotional changes and fatigue all contribute to a rise in strokes and heart attacks among seniors who feast and stay up late.

He always remembers an elderly woman patient, who died from a heart attack after working a whole day to prepare food for a big family.

"She was happy because Spring Festival was the opportunity to have all the family members gather together," Zhou says.

"But her death could have been avoided, if she didn't let herself get so tired and excited."

To make things worse, some Chinese people, usually seniors, often refuse to stay hospitalized, or do not take medicine during the holiday, considering hospitalization and medicine bad omens at the beginning of a year.

"The majority of my patients hold such thoughts, and some put them into action," Zhou says.

"If the family know the seniors don't have medicine, they may be alert. But many of the elderly sneakily throw away their medicine."

Related: Stay healthy on holiday