Winter has settled in across Saskatchewan, and for the next several months we have something to look forward to.
Shoveling.And more shoveling.
Those tiny little flakes may seem almost weightless, but clearing a whole driveway of the stuff can translate into a chore that puts a sudden stress on your heart. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Saskatchewan, exertion and cold air combine to increase the workload on the heart muscle, pushing up blood pressure and straining the arteries' ability to feed the heart muscle with oxygen. While regular, moderate physical activity in all forms protects against heart disease, sudden stressful exercise such as shoveling heavy snow can be too much for people with underlying heart disease.
Hospital emergency department personnel verify that the number of acute heart problems increase when there's a significant dip in the outdoor temperature or following a heavy snowfall.
"Try to look a snow shoveling just like any other type of exercise: warm up first, and keep it at a level that your body is comfortable with," says Tim Hillier, Chair of Heart and Stroke Foundation`s Resuscitation Advisory Committee. "Moderation is the key, so start out slowly, just partly fill the shovel, keep the shovel below the level of your waist, and try to do the job in stages. Just like you wouldn't run a marathon if you hadn't trained for it, you shouldn't try to clear away huge drifts of snow all at once if you're not in good physical shape."
Stop shoveling if you experience any unusual symptoms such as sudden shortness of breath, chest area discomfort, light-headedness, nausea, dizziness or severe headache.If you experience any of these symptoms, call 9-1-1 immediately.
