GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — Cold weather can be dangerous for the heart for many reasons.
Dr. Thomas Boyden, the medical director of preventative cardiology at Corewell Health, said cold air can trigger vasoconstriction, or blood vessels getting tighter. That tightness can restrict blood flow to the heart.
Shoveling snow can also be dangerous for the heart, as it can cause cardiac arrest, especially with wet, heavy snow like West Michigan saw this week.
"People can drop dead suddenly while shoveling," Boyden said. "We see about 100 deaths per year throughout the country because of this. We get a lot more hospitalizations because of heart attacks because of triggering heart failure."
He suggests pushing, not lifting the snow, with the shovel. Also, wear a face covering to avoid directly breathing in the cold air.
"If you're out there, and you're noticing symptoms that just don't feel right, you should really listen to your body rather than trying to push through this," Boyden said.
Prevention comes down to the basics: eat well, get sleep, manage stress and stay active. However, the latter can be tricky in Michigan in winter months, when many people are not getting the outdoor activity they may in summer.
"That's also another reason why shoveling snow can be very tricky," Boyden said. "You go from this very sedentary state where your heart's been, essentially at rest for weeks, if not months. And then you go to this really super strenuous activity of shoveling snow, which can be too much for the heart to handle."
It's not just people who have a history of heart disease who need to take caution. Often, Boyden said the first sign of disease is the tightening that comes with shoveling.
"I think people with heart disease already are pretty aware of this stuff," Boyden said. "It's really the people who are at risk that just don't think about it, or don't think they might have the disease, that really we need to worry about."
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