Friday, 12 January 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The arrival and intensification of the winter cold is marked with the increasing occurrences of heart attack cases, particularly among the elderly people. Experts have advised the elderly to be cautious during the winter season. They have recommended wearing layered clothes, drinking sufficient water and consuming light food as these, according to them, may mitigate the possibility of heart failure.
Talking to The Pioneer on the matter, an associate professor and Cardiologist at Government Doon Medical College (GDMC), Dr Amar Upadhyay said that as per his long professional experiences as a medical practitioner, heart attack cases see a spike in the winter season. “The plummeting of the mercury affects the body’s temperature too, resulting in constriction of blood vessels, hormonal changes and thickening of blood that often ends up in heart attacks. Another factor that aggravates things is the chill-induced reluctance to go for physical exercises like morning and evening walks, jogging and the like. The people, particularly the elderly, must make it a point to keep up with their daily routine, including physical exercises and movements, even at the peak of the winter. They may do these indoors if going out in the winter chill is difficult, but they must get rid of the laziness that winter begets,” he said.
He further said that the elderly people must be all the more cautious as they are more prone to heart attacks than others during winter. “Chest pain, vomiting and sweating are common symptoms of an impending heart attack. So, if anybody faces these symptoms they should not waste time and contact physicians,” he added.
A senior consultant physician and non-invasive cardiologist Dr Sanjay Kumar Varun told this correspondent that constriction of blood vessels during winter is the principal contributor to heart attacks or strokes. “The elderly people have a higher chance of suffering heart attacks in winter since their blood vessels become stiffer with age. To remain safe, they should wrap their bodies with enough warm clothes, drink sufficient water all day long and take medicines regularly if they are hypertensive,” he added.
