According to experts, even a small temperature difference increases the possibility of heart attack.
People at risk of myocardial infarction (elderly, diabetics, high blood pressure) researchers are advised to avoid extremes in temperature and, going outside, dress warmly.
Mark Klais (Claeys Marc) of the University hospital of Antwerp (Belgium) and his colleagues compared the medical history 16 thousand patients who applied to the Belgian cardiac centers in the period from 2006 to 2009 with data from 73 weather stations located nearby.
Scientists tried to find out whether the risk of heart attack weather and air pollution, in particular, with such factors as the number of dust particles in the air from car exhausts with a high content of soot, temperature and humidity. The study showed that air pollution has no significant effect on the risk of heart attack, but there is a relationship with air temperature: the likelihood of heart attack increased by 7%, when the temperature dropped 10 degrees.
“Further analysis showed that the impact of low temperatures impact outside of the winter season. Apparently, small differences in temperature between indoors and outdoors also can increase the risk of acute myocardial infarction. However, lowering the temperature below 10 degrees Celsius above zero does not lead to additional increase of the risk of a heart attack,” says Klais, quoted by the European society of cardiology.
The researchers propose to explain such a dependence by stimulation of the receptors of cold on the skin that have an effect on the sympathetic nervous system, which increases the risk of heart attack and blood clots.
