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Chilling Effects: Cold Weather and Heart Health

Chilling Effects: Cold Weather and Heart Health

Chilling Effects: Cold Weather and Heart Health

Winter typically brings snow and frigid temperatures to Southwest Wyoming. That combination may pose challenges if you have or are at risk for heart disease. Cold weather can affect your heart and the rest of your cardiovascular system in a variety of ways. This season, take steps to protect your heart from winter’s chill, especially when working or exercising outdoors.

How Your Heart and Blood Vessels Respond to Cold Weather

When you’re exposed to extreme cold, your body has to work harder to stay warm. That includes your heart, which plays a role in regulating your body temperature. When the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to the body, the cardiovascular system helps exchange heat between organs, tissues, and skin.

Your blood vessels respond to cold temperatures by constricting so blood flows deep into the body. This helps you stay warm, but it comes with a downside: Narrowing of the blood vessels increases your heart’s workload as it pushes blood out into your body. The upshot: Cold weather increases your heart rate and blood pressure, which can be dangerous if you have high blood pressure.

Blood flow to the heart may already be restricted if you have too much plaque in your coronary arteries — the hallmark of coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease. While cold weather alone can’t cause heart attacks, heart palpitations, and chest pain, cold-induced narrowing of the blood vessels can make these heart problems worse or help set the stage for them, especially during snow shoveling or other strenuous physical activity.

In a 2023 analysis of 159 studies, researchers found that for every 1 degree Celsius of temperature decrease, cardiovascular disease-related deaths and illnesses increased by 1.6% and 1.2%, respectively. Overall, cold weather increased cardiovascular deaths by 32.4% and cardiovascular illnesses by 13.8%.

When Temperature Falls, New Challenges May Rise

Cold weather can also affect your heart by altering your mental health and behaviors. Here’s how:

  • Stress can surge. Between making holiday plans, helping your kids navigate schoolwork and activities, and meeting year-end and beginning-of-year deadlines at work, winter can cause your stress level to spike. That, in turn, can lead you to smoke, skip exercise, or eat too much junk food — all bad choices for your heart.
  • Tasty temptations abound. Winter brings holiday sweets and savory favorites at family dinners and get-togethers with friends, not to mention candy galore around Valentine’s Day. Enjoying seasonal treats in moderation is fine, but overindulging can fuel heart-health risk factors, such as weight gain.
  • Winter may get you down. With less sunlight this time of year, your internal clock may fall out of rhythm. This can lead to a type of depression called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Many symptoms of SAD, such as overeating, gaining weight, and losing energy or motivation to exercise, can harm your heart health.

Cold (Weather) Comfort: How to Protect Your Heart

Whether you’re planning to go for a walk near home, hike a trail, or shovel your driveway, follow these precautions to safeguard your heart in cold weather.

  • Adjust the timing of outdoor chores or exercise. Heart patients need to be careful in cold weather, but they shouldn’t neglect physical activity. Take advantage of peak sunlight and relatively warm temperatures by getting outside at midday. Just be sure to protect your skin by covering up and wearing sunscreen.
  • Ask an expert. Before working or exercising in wintry conditions, check with your primary care provider or cardiologist to ensure it’s safe for you.
  • Brush up on hypothermia. Extremely cold weather can cause a dangerous drop in body temperature. Ensure you know the symptoms of hypothermia so you can seek medical attention right away if they occur.
  • Don’t mix alcohol and physical activity. Alcohol can give you a false sense of warmth that can be dangerous when working in cold weather.
  • Dress in layers. Layers of clothing trap heat between them, which may help prevent your heart from having to work as hard to help you stay warm. Don’t forget to cover your head, neck, and ears.
  • Learn how to recognize a cardiac emergency. Knowing what cardiac arrest or a heart attack looks like can help you respond quickly when every second counts.
  • Take breaks. Rest frequently when shoveling snow or performing other strenuous outdoor work to avoid overtaxing your heart.

Heart Health in Season

You can do even more to help your heart have a healthy winter (and future).

  • Make a plan for holiday eating. To prevent overindulging on holiday treats, resolve to sample just one or two favorite dishes and eat a healthy meal or snack before going to parties so you don’t browse the buffet table on an empty stomach.
  • Manage stress. Take time each day to read, exercise, cook, paint, or listen to music — whatever helps you relax and focus on you.
  • Stay up to date with seasonal vaccinations. If you have heart disease, you have a higher risk of complications from the flu. In addition, COVID-19 may increase your risk for certain heart complications, such as atrial fibrillation. Help protect your heart by getting vaccinated.

Your primary care provider can help you manage your heart health this winter and all year long. Schedule an appointment.