Thursday, 12 December 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
With the real winter having set in with its customary chill, doctors have reported a 20 to 30 per cent spurt in heart-related conditions among people here. They say that as per their experiences in the medical arena, instances of heart malfunctioning tend to rise alarmingly during winter compared to the summer time. Doctors attribute this trend to the sedentary lifestyles and constriction of heart vessels that are more prevalent during this time of the year.
Talking to The Pioneer, the medical superintendent at Deen Dayal Upadhyay District Hospital Dr V S Chauhan agreed that a significant spike in heart ailments is seen every winter. “There are numerous factors that aggravate heart issues. The most common among them is that the people tend to become less active and engage in less physical exercise. This bodes ill as this tendency to remain idle and keep indoors worsens blood pressure and blood sugar issues,” he added.
He said that this may escalate to deeper heart ailments. “The most dangerous part is the narrowing of heart veins. The elderly people are more vulnerable than the young and the middle aged people. So they must make it a point to go out for physical activity. They even may do exercises at home if they fear the chill outdoors. But anyhow, some kind of physical activity must be there. Besides, they must strictly adhere to prescribed medications for blood pressure and blood sugar. Along with this, they must have a healthy diet in order to avoid heart ailment aggravation,” he added.
Agreeing to the winter vulnerability for the elderly people with heart issues, a cardiologist at the district hospital Dr Sandeep Malviya said that he had observed that the incidence of heart ailments in the OPD surge by a whopping 20 to 30 per cent during the winter season compared to the summer. “The less the physical activity the more the risk. For idleness leads to thicker blood and narrowed heart veins which inevitably escalate to uncontrolled blood pressure and blood sugar levels. These may combine to pose grave heart health risks,” he said.
He also flagged concern over another fact: the young people are not fully immune to erratic functioning of heart during the winter months. He prescribed the same: continuation of physical activities. “Besides, going for regular check-ups for cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar is a must for all with the slightest heart problem. If symptoms such as chest pain or discomfort arise, prompt visit to a doctor is imperative,” he advised.
