Recommendations for heart patients: Take care of your health in the winter

Weather Arabs medical site - "people should be aware of the possibility that it is difficult to adjust the amount of blood pressure measurement readings during the winter, so they have to be more careful during this period of the year." Dr. Fletcher summarized the findings of his study at the 2008 American Heart Association Annual Conference.

For physicians and patients with cardiovascular disease, the most prominent title remains that winter is a period of time of the year requiring special attention to cardiovascular health. However, some have played down the importance of what is being offered in the global meetings of cardiology, as it is natural that the winter period requires the health attention of all people, children, middle-aged and adults, male and female, in order to prevent seasonal winter microbes and environmental fluctuations in the environment in which we live. What is scientifically suggested, for direct practical application, is that there are vital physiological changes in the body that make the cardiovascular system more susceptible to the negative impact of these microbes and the environmental variability associated with winter.

While some believe that the effects of winter on body health, especially the cardiovascular system, are closely related to the extent to which the temperature decreases only in the air, or the extent of rainfall, snow and others, it is mistaken and dehydrated to the fact that the body is affected by the winter season as a period of time.

The reason is that medical studies, which, for example, have tracked the likelihood of uncontrolled blood pressure during winter compared to summer, have not observed that these negative effects of winter on people have to do with how low the external temperature between geographically different cities at latitudes. It is broader and related to the winter period as a separate season of the year in all regions of the northern hemisphere.

At the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, researchers in Washington said controlling blood pressure readings in patients was harder in winter. They noted that the chances of success in reducing blood pressure in patients and thus reaching normal numbers were weaker in winter than in summer.

Dr. Jonathan Halperin, a spokesman for the American Heart Association and a cardiologist at Mount Sanai Medical Center in New York, commented: “But as far as I know, this is the first study to show the seasonal changes in blood pressure.

Blood pressure and diagnosis

"As is known, high blood pressure often does not cause any symptoms that the patient complains about, to indicate the presence of high blood."

However, it may cause significant health problems and the importance of affecting the safety of patients' lives, as a result of complications that lead to heart failure, cardiovascular stroke, stroke and kidney failure.

Normally, the blood pressure reading is less than 120 for systolic pressure, less than 80 for diastolic pressure, that is to say less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury.

When the systolic pressure is between 120 and 139, or diastolic pressure between 80 and 89, the blood pressure reading is not considered normal by cardiologists, nor is it a sign of hypertension, but is classified as pre- High blood pressure prehypertension. If the systolic reading is 140 and above, or diastolic pressure 90 and above, and is repeated in three separate days, the diagnosis of hypertension.

It can work to achieve the success of adjusting his readings to become within the normal rates by following healthy behaviors in the lifestyle, and taking drugs that reduce the rise, and follow closely any changes in the reading of the measure, or any of the side effects of drugs for treatment, or the emergence of any signs of complications in the target organs .

Blood pressure and winter

Researchers at the Washington-based Veterans' Medical Center included a broad segment of those with high blood pressure veterans, about 444,000, with an average age of about 66 years.

Blood pressure readings were followed for five consecutive years. Their areas of residence varied, including 15 cities across the country, specifically the distribution of cities located in the far reaches of the cold regions of the United States, such as Anchorage in Alaska, and cities in warm areas under its authority such as San Juan in Puerto Rico.

The researchers concluded that no matter what city they lived in, regardless of how much the air temperature during the winter, as well as regardless of the gender or race, the number of people whose blood pressure was adjusted by treatment was lower in Winter months compared to that in summer.

"We have noticed a difference in the amount of blood pressure between seasons in the population in all cities," said Dr. Ross Fletcher, lead researcher in the study. Whatever the location of the patient's city, he said, every summer the blood pressure improves and every winter gets worse.

Specifically, the researchers said, there is no difference in this between the cities of Alaska and cities in the warm areas of the Caribbean. And they did not find the difference between blood pressure in winter and summer higher only in very cold cities.

What the study says, both in terms of the number of people covered and the length of follow-up, is higher than previously thought, because the researchers observed that changes in the amount of blood pressure during winter, compared with summer, affected more than 60% of patients.

Dr. Fletcher described the extent of this change in the results of the pressure measurement as "marked change."

Their findings suggest that treating people with high blood pressure may require higher doses of the drugs they usually take, and may need to add other types of them during the winter months, the researchers said.

What seems to be that if one wants to control any rise in blood pressure, the condition of the “winter dip” in the success of controlling any elevations in it must be viewed with interest. People should be aware that it may be difficult to adjust their blood pressure readings during the winter, so they should be more careful during that period of the year.

Weight and movement

Although researchers admit that they were not looking at the causes of these differences in blood pressure throughout the seasons, and also what is usually given from various medical folklore explanations, the researchers stated that what they believe is the reasons for this may be just those changes in the temperature of the atmosphere, No matter how much, or in daylight, that usually accompanies winter. This suggests that the researchers have added to the traditionally cited reasons to explain the climatic and physical aspects of winter rather than summer, which affect cardiovascular physiology and systems.

In addition to high blood pressure, in the winter you get changes in the body caused by several reasons. They also cause changes in blood pressure. Dr. Fletcher, as stated by many medical sources before, gave an example of weight gain, where most people show a relative increase in weight due to changes in eating habits and components, and due to lack of movement and physical effort, during the winter compared to summer. As Dr. Halperin, of the American Heart Association, commented, blood pressure rises with weight gain and decreases with low blood pressure.

The researchers noted in this study on the subject of the recent large-scale study. They said they did not believe that high blood pressure had led to weight gain, and perhaps even weight gain had contributed to raising blood pressure. They also said that in winter people may eat high-salt foods, which also raises blood pressure.

The researchers also said there was a decrease in the amount of physical movement and exercise during the winter, compared to summer. This may be another factor contributing to the problem of high blood pressure during the winter.

Other elements

In addition to the potential for high blood pressure in the winter due to weight gain and lack of physical activity, there are other factors. Perhaps the most important of these side effects of drugs used in the treatment of congestion of colds and flu, and drugs used to relieve joint pain of non-steroidal types such as Voltaren or Provin, cortisone drugs and others. As well as seasonal affective disorders Seasonal affective disorder, and the subsequent psychological changes such as depression and low mood and others. Hyaltha worsened in the winter in many by various factors, the most important difference in the exposure of the body to the amount of light.

Medical sources indicate that the cold weather or the length of winter night alone is not the main cause of the emergence of these mental disorders. They suggest that the incidence is not high compared to the regions of Siberia and Iceland. Winter's heart-to-heart relationship is broader than mere hypertension, and winter factors lead to it. Because winter increases the chances of getting colds and seasonal flu viruses, it also increases the risk of bacterial infections in the upper respiratory tract, such as the nose, sinuses, throat, trachea, and lower respiratory tract, such as the bronchi and lung tissue itself.

Low winter temperatures increase the likelihood of hypothermia, and constrict blood vessels in the skin, increasing blood pressure and increasing the burden on the heart. Consequently, the risk of heart attack and stroke is higher. Dr. Robert Bonau, of the American Heart Association, said several findings examined the seasonal changes of heart attacks and stroke, and confirmed that the incidence of either also rises in winter.

Dealing with heart patients with respiratory infections and decongestants

Under the heading "Cold weather raises the risk of heart disease," the American Heart Association says that "frostbite" and snowboarding are not only dangerous because of winter weather, but winter is also a period in which one must take precautions to protect his heart, especially if He has a cardiovascular disease.

She presented several pathological aspects that needed special attention to her heart. CDC statistics show that every year, in the United States alone, more than 36,000 people die from seasonal flu, and more than 200,000 are hospitalized for treatment. And scientific studies have shown that deaths from influenza are higher in heart patients, compared to people with any other chronic diseases.

While heart patients are urged to receive the seasonal flu vaccine as soon as the vaccine is available, which is produced each year a new type and is available in the month of October each year, it is not advisable to discourage those who were unable to receive the vaccine in the first season to receive it whenever they have The opportunity to do so, and even to receive the vaccine in late December or early January is still useful, because the flu season, in cold areas, runs until March.

She said heart patients, who have either colds or flu, should be alert to their medications to alleviate the symptoms of any of these viral infections. The majority of over-the-counter medicines available to treat symptoms of colds or flu contain decongestants. People with hypertension should know that the use of decongestants can lead to high blood pressure, and can reduce the effectiveness of the medicines to treat high blood pressure, because the common decongestants used in the production of these drugs, sold without the need to Prescription is either pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine.

If you have high blood pressure, consult your doctor before taking any of these over-the-counter medications. She stressed her words by saying that you may be, ignorantly of you, put yourself at risk every time you reach the wardrobe to take a decongestant to treat symptoms of colds or flu.

Few people taking cold and flu congestion medications pay attention to the warning label, says Harvard researchers. “Do not take this product if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, diabetes or difficulties in Urination as a result of enlarged prostate, unless you consult your doctor.

They said that decongestants containing zodoephedrine raise blood pressure. Although it causes a slight rise in blood pressure, and is consumed by millions over the years without any problems, there are reports, which can not be neglected, that it causes strokes, stroke, heart rhythm disorders and other cardiovascular complications.

They added that as a result of several laws governing the supply of zodoephedrine, many companies producing anti-decongestants have moved to add phenylephrine instead of zodoephedrine. But few medical studies examine the effect of even this substance on the heart, which requires further research.

Indeed, even these few studies still indicate that they have effects that raise blood pressure.