Cold Weather Stresses Your Heart: 5 Tips to Stay Safe

If you have heart disease, cold weather can be especially challenging. You may suffer angina, or chest pain, and some research indicates there’s an increased risk of heart attack. But if you take a few precautions, you can have a safe and healthy winter.

Why Cold Weather can be Dangerous

Cold weather stresses the cardiovascular system because of how your body reacts to it. The blood vessels in your skin constrict, your breathing is shallow, and your blood thickens slightly—all of which can lead to chest pain if you have heart disease.

Because your arteries tighten in the cold, your blood flow slows and that reduces the amount of oxygen to your heart. Meanwhile, your body taxes itself as it tries to obtain oxygen and keep warm.

Lifting a shovel heavy with snow, even walking through deep snow or drifts can strain your heart because it has to work harder to maintain your body’s core temperature. In addition to the cold, the American Heart Association notes that you can lose body heat to high winds, snow, and rain.

How to Protect Yourself

So before you try to exercise outdoors, shovel snow, or simply take a walk in the cold, learn how to protect yourself. Start by asking your doctor what cold-weather activities are safe for you.

Then Take These Precautions:

• Wear layers of clothing so air gets trapped between the layers and insulates you.
• Cover your head, hands, and feet as they tend to lose heat rapidly.
• Don’t drink alcohol before going outdoors because it causes blood vessels in the skin to expand, drawing away heat from your organs.
• If you’re not conditioned to the cold, take it slow, for example, when shoveling snow.
• Don’t eat a big meal before going outside or coming back in. Digestion causes your heart to work hard.

And if you’re feeling signs of trouble in spite of taking precautions, don’t delay. Call 911 to get help right away.