Cold Weather and Heart Attacks: What’s the Connection?
Cold weather and Heart Attacks: What’s the connection? Winters can be hard to deal with, more so, when they’re severe and with no let up. Harsh winters can affect our health in many different ways: from mood disorders like SAD (seasonal affective disorder) to heart attacks if you already have health problems like high blood pressure and cholesterol and other risk factors.
Activities like shovelling snow, walking through heavy snow, and winter sports like skiing and snowboarding can all stress out the heart too much and lead to heart attacks.
Exposure to extreme cold can stress the heart out in other ways, too – by dropping the body temperature below 95 degrees Fahrenheit and causing hypothermia. Most deaths in hypothermia occur due to heart failure.
Some studies show that extreme winter weather can increase the risk of heart attacks due to overexertion.
So it’s important to dress in warm clothes and in layers, and to keep your head and ears hands and feet covered as they lose heat more quickly than other parts of your body. It’s also important to avoid alcohol if you plan to go
outdoors, as alcohol expands blood vessels and draws heat away from your vital organs.
If you’re going to shovel snow or take part in other strenuous activities, experts suggest eating lighter meals before beginning, taking frequent breaks, and being attentive to your body’s stress signals. Know the symptoms of
heart attack so you can seek medical attention immediately by calling 911 or having someone call them for you. Fast action can be life-saving in such situations.
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