Heart Group Offers Cold-Weather Tips

Deaths related to heart disease tend to rise rapidly right after Thanksgiving, continuing through Christmas and peaking around New Year's Day, according to the American Heart Association. At highest risk are individuals with high blood pressure, those who are overweight, smokers, those with high cholesterol, those with a strong family history of heart disease and people who are sedentary.

Several factors contribute to the holiday-season increase in deaths, including an increase in respiratory infections during the winter and the increased workload on the heart from activities such as shoveling snow, according to Dr. John Southall, chief of emergency medicine at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine. Dietary changes are also to blame, since holiday activities tend to increase consumption of food, alcohol and salt, Southall said.

In a recent press release, the American Heart Association offered the following tips to help prevent sudden cardiac arrest:

• Avoid sudden cold-weather exertion. Snow shoveling can be good exercise, but it can be deadly for people who normally are sedentary or in poor physical condition. Even walking through heavy, wet snow or snowdrifts can strain the heart.
• Recognize the symptoms of hypothermia. It occurs when the body can't generate enough energy to maintain a normal internal body temperature. Symptoms include lack of coordination, mental confusion, slowed reactions, shivering and sleepiness. The elderly are especially susceptible to losing body heat. Heart attacks are the most frequent cause of death associated with hypothermia.
• Stay warm. Low temperatures, high winds, snow and rain can steal body heat. Wind is especially dangerous, because it removes the layer of heated air between the body and clothing. Dampness causes the body to lose heat at a faster rate than it would at the same temperature in drier conditions. To keep warm, wear layers of clothing and be sure to wear a hat, gloves and warm footwear.
• Avoid drinking alcohol before heading outdoors. Alcohol may give an initial feeling of warmth, caused by expanding blood vessels in the skin. But this heat is drawn away from the body's vital organs. Additionally, alcohol consumption may lessen awareness of dangerous hypothermia.
• Learn CPR. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation saves lives. Courses are taught by the American Heart Association and other groups.

To learn more about the American Heart Association, call 800-AHA-USA1 or visit americanheart.org.

Source: Bangor Daily News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by Yellowbrix.