Tetraphobia Raised Fourth-Day Cardiac Deaths

In 2001, a study of U.S. death certificates from 1973 to 1998 reported that cardiac deaths among Chinese and Japanese Americans rose about 7% on the fourth day of each month. The researchers linked the increase to tetraphobia, since words for "four" and "death" sound similar in Chinese and Japanese, and named the result the Baskerville effect. The increase reached 13% for chronic heart disease and 27% for chronic heart disease deaths in California.

Previous Fact Next Fact