heart rate & EFFECT OF WINTER

[ashok1431951]

MY HEART RATE(50-56) IS LOW.I M FROM CENTRAL INDIA WHERE WINTER SEASON IS COMMING. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT PRECAUTION I HAVE TO TAKE FOR SURVIVAL.THIS IS MY FIRST WINTER WITH SLOW HR

[ed34]

Do you have any other conditions such as heart disease?

[curmudgen]

As ed34 noted... if there are no health risks just keep warm -

[ashok1431951]

i undergone three blockage angioplasty.first 0ne in 2004 july & 2nd & 3rd on 17th mar2011.after 23mar2011 my heart rate became slow.this will be my first winter after slow heart rate thats why i ask,what precation i have to take for easy winter & safe life. is there any relation between slow heart rate and seasons of the year.Iwant expert advise from cadiologist

[jrbon]

Sorry, up to my knowledge, there is no doctors in this forum. I am a patient like you.

In my view, chances are that your low HR is due to medication, particularly if you take any beta-blocker. However if your dr. is happy with that HR, why do you think it will be lower in winter? There is a relation between increased BP and winter, that as many other seasonal variation, can be, potentially, attributed to low Vitamin D in winter, so you might  consider to supplement it.

Of course, heart symptoms can be aggravated with cold, so try to avoid it!!

Jesus

[ed34]

Your circulation changes when you are cold, which is why more patients get angina when cold. I used to find that wrapping up didn't help much because it was 'breathing' the cold air which affected me. With stable angina it is of course easy to resolve, if you go outside and breathe cold air to find you get angina symptoms, go back indoors and breathe warm air. If you don't feel any angina breathing cold air, you will be fine.

[jrbon]

Ed,
At least for people like me it is not that easy ....

Since my HA and stents placements I am absolutely angina free. However with an EF of 23% I cannot afford any cold, particularly in my head, my heart it is not able to supply the amount of blood required to keep my temperature and, without any angina at all, I enter in low cardiac output .. a very funny feeling where you can feel how your body is shooting down, starting by your muscles ... first time I, literately,  had to be carry the 50 m from my parking to the door of my apartment, my legs were absolutely useless.

However as I said, I do not get any heart rate alteration directly related to coldness.

Jesus

[nspower]

I thought that cold air has higher density and lungs can pump higher amount of air with each breath, increasing amount of oxygen in blood per breath as compared to when in hot weather? If one is wrapped properly, the loss of heat from the body in cold weather will be less.
Why than higher demand on cardiac output? I live in tropical climate.

I too am having low ef 30-35% and woudering if I need to take precautions when I travel to Kazakhstan, next month,  where the temperature can get very low (-20 deg C).

[Occupant]

I think you underestimate the effect of heat loss due to cold air on your blood circulation versus the higher density the air has at these temperatures - there is going to be a net loss.

[ed34]

The reasons for cold air having such an effect on the body is still quite a mystery, more so with inhalation of cold air. I did read a recent article which studied healthy individuals and these were monitored using a variety of equipment, including Ultrasound/doppler on the LAD. Heart oxygen demand was monitored along with blood pressure/flow rate etc. Volunteers who breathed in cold air showed the heart had an increase in demand for oxygen but flow rate reduced. It was shown how breathing cold air significantly affects oxygen delivery around the body, and can be seen how this will really increase angina. As correctly stated, low air temperature does have more oxygen molecules per cubic meter, but it will also have an increase in all other molecules, such as nitrogen. When oxygen is increased, it has been shown how some of the alveoli in lungs tend to close up, maybe to regulate the input. This has been observed in patients on pure oxygen and is one reason air mixture has to be carefully monitored. All blood obviously passes through the lungs, which will be full of cold air, and this will affect the overall temperature in the body. Skin temperature can be controlled much more by diverting much of the blood volume away from the surface, but you cannot stop blood going through the lungs or we will suffocate. I remember the winters of 2007,2008 where I would just open the front door to someone, breathe in some cold air and suddenly have chest pains/tightening of the throat. After breathing warm air for a few seconds, full recovery occurred. If I had to take rubbish out to the bin, I would hold my breath and angina didn't occur.After having my LAD opened with stents, I did find breathing in cold air was easier than in warm air. Especially if it was full of moisture or it was misty rain.

[nspower]

Just wondering how people survive in countries with extreme cold weather, if they have heart problems like angina and low ef. Does it mean that they have to remain inside the buildings most of the time?

I once put this question to my cardiologist and he initially laughed at me and than explained that our body is designed to heat the air we breath in such that we get correct temperature of air before it reached lungs. He gave an example that if it was not so, people living is sub-zero temperatures (in some cases below (-) 20-30 deg C would have their lungs frozen.

But certainly it appears that air temperature does make some difference as you have practically experienced living in cold climate.
So, any suggestions for person with low ef?

[jrbon]

My experience tells me that everyone is different, so the only that I can tell you it is be prepared to be VERY affected... if you do not feel the difference better for you.

In that preparation I will include

1) Be very careful the first time in could weather, do no perform any effort until you are sure you feel OK.
2) Get a hot hat to cover your head and an scarf to cover your mouth. just in case.
3) Organize your cloths in multiple layers (including your legs) so that you can choose the most adequate on each moment.
4) As Ed says, look for possible angina and, if so, go to hot place.
5) If suddenly you feel very tired and weak ... then you are going into low cardiac output... go to warm place and rest horizontal until you recover.

Jesus.

[ed34]

My Cardiologist is the opposite, he recommended my latest 2 stents because he believed I would otherwise suffer this winter. Yes of course the lungs are heated to some extent because of the amount of blood running through them, but this is the only source of heat. It is not going to be enough to prevent angina.
With regards to people in extremely cold countries with angina, yes I would honestly believe they would feel much more comfortable indoors, just as people do in less cold conditions. On the opposite side of the coin, hot weather, I didn't feel any chest discomfort, all I found was I had to breathe a bit faster, but then again, so do most people.
With regards to the lower EF. I suppose it all depends on the cause. If you have low EF because of blockages, then yes, I think serious problems could occur. If the EF is through other reasons, then I doubt if a person would be affected by colder climates. From the research I've seen with exercising in cold conditions compared to warm, blood pressure seems to increase slightly (as it would with exercise anyway), blood flow seems to reduce which is probably why muscles begin to ache and tire so quickly, and yet the heart doesn't seem to work much harder. It's just like the oxygen level drops sufficiently to bring on angina. It isn't like the heart overworking and needing a bigger supply which isn't available.
I hope that makes sense. To put it another way, if your heart is beating at 70bpm with an ef of 35%, and your body tissue is happy, lowering the oxygen will have little effect on the heart if there are no blockages. If there are blockages, and the heart is JUST getting enough oxygen, then lowering the oxygen will obviously induce angina.