Giving information about the effects of cold weather on heart health, Cardiology Specialist Specialist. Dr. Fatih Çam said, “Humans are warm-blooded creatures, so they have to maintain their body temperature even when the weather gets cold. Therefore, to prevent heat loss in cold weather, the body tries to reduce heat loss by constricting blood vessels. In cold weather, the workload of the heart increases significantly and the vessels also narrow. For this reason, in cold weather, you get tired more quickly and you become out of breath more quickly. Again, for the same reason, that is, when the vessels constrict, the amount of blood flowing decreases, and the oxygen in that decreased blood is also less; Extremities such as hands, feet, tip of the nose and lips become bruised. Chest pain and even heart attack may occur in those with heart failure, increased heart failure, heart rhythm disturbances, stenosis in coronary arteries. Moreover, the faster the encounter with the cold, the more severe the reaction. “For example, these reactions develop very quickly in people who fall into cold or icy water,” he said.
REASONS FOR INCREASE OF HEART ATTACK RISK IN WINTER
Specialist Dr. Fatih Çam listed the reasons for the increased risk of heart attack in winter as follows:
“It is the narrowing of the vessels, the increase in blood pressure, the increase in the amount of blood returning to the heart and the decrease in the amount of oxygen in the blood. In the United States and Canada, where everyone has to clear snow from the sidewalk in front of their home, heart attacks and sudden deaths that occur while shoveling snow are very common in the winter. Although it does not cause a heart attack, encountering sudden cold or walking against a cold wind can cause serious chest pain in coronary artery disease patients. Winter is an important source of resistance decline. Therefore, heart patients should receive a flu vaccine every year and a pneumonia vaccine every five years. Flu and similar colds, which cause mild illness in healthy people, are among the most important causes of death for heart patients. That’s why vaccinations should not be neglected.” (IHA)
