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CHARLOTTE -- Many people look forward to the holidays all year for the food, fellowship and fun that comes with them. But during the holiday season, heart disease and heart attacks tend to become more prominent.

"There's a common saying of 'holiday heart,' said Jonathan Lechner, a physician assistant in the cardiology department at Presbyterian Hospital. "You know, being that this is a very stressful time, you tend to see a lot of people with heart disease coming into the hospital."

The uptick in patients is for common reasons.

"People are working harder to get things done before the holidays. They're playing harder, and oftentimes they're not getting enough rest," said Dr. Robert Iwaoka, an interventional cardiologist at Presbyterian Hospital. "They may not be taking their medications or seeing their docs because they're putting things off. So a lot of things will combine to make the perfect storm and stress the system."

The food, presents and parties can add up.

"People tend to overdo it, whether it's eating or other activities, so moderation is key," said Lechner.

And sometimes that overindulgence can be mistaken for indigestion.

"Cardiac related chest pain can be anything from chest pressure, chest tightness, chest burning, and I would stress that you don't ignore symptoms simply because you don't think they're cardiac," said Lechner.

As family and friends gather, people don't want to be a burden.

"We just want to get past the holidays and then I'll get this checked out,” said Iwaoka. “I've heard that more than once, and oftentimes, it's a bad decision.”

But they say putting it off, thinking it's not your heart, can do more damage to the heart muscle.

"When you have a heart attack or a blockage in a blood vessel, the faster that's opened up, then the less damage there is to the heart," said Lechner.

So their message this holiday season is to not neglect your health.

"This is not a free pass just because it's the holidays," said Iwaoka.

Iwaoka said that normal changes that occur in the body in the fall and winter also lead to an increase in heart problems.