With the season’s first significant snowfall under way, the American Heart Association wants to remind folks that cardiovascular events like sudden cardiac arrest may increase during cold winter months.
Activities like shoveling snow, often done by those who don’t get regular physical activity, can trigger such cardiovascular emergencies.
The American Heart Association offers these tips for shoveling snow:
• If you have a medical condition or don’t exercise on a regular basis or are middle aged or older, schedule a meeting with your doctor prior to the first anticipated snowfall.
• Take frequent rest breaks during shoveling so you don’t over stress your heart. Pay attention to how your body feels during those breaks.
• Don’t eat a heavy meal prior to shoveling. Eating a large meal can put an extra load on your heart.
• Don’t drink alcoholic beverages before shoveling. Alcohol may increase a person’s sensation of warmth and may cause them to underestimate the extra strain their body is under in the cold.
• Heart failure causes most deaths in hypothermia. To prevent hypothermia, dress in layers of warm clothing, which traps air between layers forming a protective insulation. Don’t forget your hat!
• The act of lifting heavy snow can raise blood pressure acutely during the lift. It is safer to lift smaller amounts more times, than to lift a few huge shovelfuls of snow.
• Listen to your body. If you feel the warning signs for heart attack, stop what you’re doing immediately and call 9-1-1.
Heart attack signs
• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
• Shortness of breath. This feeling often comes along with chest discomfort, but shortness of breath can occur before the chest discomfort.
• Other signs. These may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light headedness.
