For those who choose mountain holidays, in this period, it is better to pay attention to physical efforts. Even if the temperatures are particularly mild for the period, in fact, at high altitudes the climate can be very harsh and therefore induce a vasoconstriction, or a narrowing of the vessels that carry blood, among other things, to the heart and brain, with consequent increase in blood pressure.
If you add to this intense activity such as shoveling snow, the lack of blood and oxygen to the heart can suddenly become dramatic, triggering a heart attack. A team of experts from the American Heart Association, coordinated by Barry Franklin dell’Oakland University, Michigan, which has developed a scientific paper on the possible risks associated with physical activity in the winter.
According to reports, for those who shovel snow with great intensity and vigor, what Franklin himself defines as a “perfect storm” can be created. On the one hand, physical effort engages the circulatory tree, then the cold affects blood circulation with a narrowing of the coronary arteries, so the heart can suddenly find itself in a lack of blood and oxygen, with consequent risk of arrest and heart attack.
According to the document, which has analyzed numerous clinical studies, when shoveling snow, an increase in the number of heartbeats and maximum pressure can be achieved, which can exceed the values observed during a stress test on the treadmill or cycle ergometer. This condition, of course, appears particularly frightening not only for those who have already had a heart event, but also for those at risk, perhaps because they have high blood pressure or are overweight.
What is striking, again according to the document of scholars from overseas, is the speed with which effort and low temperatures can threaten the heart: in a study it was found that after just two minutes of cleaning the snow at a good pace, the heart rate can to overcome the limits considered during a stress test.
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It is not the first time that it has been underlined how this apparently harmless activity and erroneously not considered as physical effort can represent a danger. Just think in this sense of a study that examined in particular smoking men who have already had cases of angina or heart attack in the family, conducted some time ago in Canada by scholars of the King’s University of Kingston and appeared on Clinical Research in Cardiology.
Canadian cardiologists examined the data relating to 500 people admitted to the city hospital over two winter seasons and found that in 7 percent of cases the onset of ischemia appeared to be linked to the cleaning of the path or in any case at the shovel of the snow.
For this reason, from the experts, there are several warnings that can help both to define who is at risk and to limit the dangers. According to Franklin, people with specific cardiovascular risks such as those who are overweight or diabetic, those who smoke or have smoked until recently, those who have already had a heart attack or stroke, those who have cholesterol and / or blood pressure need to be very careful. high. For them this activity should be avoided, as it appears contraindicated for those who have undergone coronary surgery or non-invasive treatments such as angioplasty.
For everyone, however, there is a warning not to forget: do not do the classic “shovel” going deep under the snow cover and then throw the snow away, but rather move gently sideways. Doing so reduces the effort and, above all, the risks. And if you really decide to clear the road from the white blanket, do it calmly. Haste and cold are enemies of the heart.
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