Heart attacks in the first year after retirement are a thing too:

"Among 5,422 individuals in the study, those who had retired were 40% more likely to have had a heart attack or stroke than those who were still working. The increase was more pronounced during the first year after retirement, and leveled off after that."

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-retirement-good-for-h...

Retirement is quite stressful for many. Suddenly having to come up with something to do every single day can cause anxiety. Most of us have recent experience with how stressful it can be to simply not visit a familiar group of people every day. The loss of stability of the 5x8 routine can cause anxiety, which may be a tipping point for borderline health issues. The loss of accountability can tip vices as well. Weekend drinkers don't always responsibly handle every day suddenly being a Saturday.

This is an incredible statistic, and quite counter intuitive…. Goes to show that stress can come from any kind of change, even if that change seems to remove a major amount of expected work

Perhaps weaning off of work would be better than cold turkey retiring?

Stress is very much not the same thing as work. My experience is that the most stressful times for me are the times when I'm suffering uncertainty over what I should do, or have a seemingly irreconcilable conflict of priorities, or when someone is in a bad situation and I can't do anything. The least stressful times are when I'm in the zone working hard ("work" being anything that needs focus, so might include play!).

The stress can be particularly bad for those that had no choice but to retire (due to health, job loss, or other reasons). Moving from working for money, and potentially being able to increase your income if needed, to a fixed income is tough for most people. Particularly if it was a sudden retirement and they realize the full implications of that after they retire.

I often wonder whether the causation is backwards for these stats. After all many people retire because of ill health.

Perhaps people retire because they are starting to get too sick to work.

"...those who had retired were 40% more likely to have had a heart attack or stroke..." (italics added)

My first thought - many retirees' daily routines suddenly included far more / longer periods of inactivity. Which changed their potential health issues related to blood clots into very real health issues related to blood clots.

Maybe. In a few months to a year though?

People retiring aren't exactly in the primes of their lives. Suddenly becoming more sedentary at 65 years old could put enormous stress on your body.

Did they account for the 'sick quitter' bias? I know of people who were forced into retirement due to ill health and died shortly thereafter, but I have a hard time buying the idea that quitting work is somehow bad for you if it's something you've always wanted.

My mom's dementia set in about a year after she retired. Before that she was in a deep depression.

I'm reasonably certain that when one of my parents dies, the other will soon follow.

For people prone to migraines it is also common that attacks will coincide with time off: weekends or the beginning of vacations.

https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/news/2001030...

Under stress the body increases cortisol production to keep the energy level up and remain alert. When the stress subsides, the cortisol production is reduced to normal and the suppressed ills break out.

I would regularly catch a "flu" during spring break (immediately post-midterms) despite just hanging out at my apartment. This explains why.

> not long after their vacation starts, they got sick

This was discussed just couple of weeks ago in this thread:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29644949

You can also think of that as an evolutionary advantage.

Your biology delays the illness until you are more ready to handle it.