Heart Beat: Baby, it's cold outside
Heart Beat
Baby, it's cold outside
Winter is a tough time for the heart. For some reason, heart attacks and sudden deaths related to heart disease seem to happen more frequently during the winter than in any other season. In northern latitudes, the winter peak has been blamed on cold, snow shoveling, changing temperatures, and even air pressure. A study that linked detailed hospital records with daily weather information between 1979 and 2002 fingers cold itself as the main culprit, at least in Minnesota and other winter wonderlands.
In Olmsted County, home of the Mayo Clinic, sudden cardiac deaths were more common on days the mercury went below freezing than at any other time. The connection was strongest for out-of-the-blue sudden cardiac deaths in people who had not previously been diagnosed with heart disease. Myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) were spread out more evenly over the year.
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