Will it be colder tomorrow? This simple meteorological question is also a health problem. And an important question for all people with cardiovascular disorders and diseases.
A Belgian study presented to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) suggests that the drop in temperature, more than the cold itself, increases the risk of acute myocardial infarction.
Researchers at the University Hospital of Antwerp analyzed weekly data on acute myocardial infarction cases in 32 Belgian medical centers between 2006 and 2009.
The data was then correlated with weekly weather reports, air pollution data, temperature and humidity.
Researchers have found that low temperatures are by far the most important environmental factor that triggers acute myocardial infarctions. In conclusion, they reveal that a 10% drop in temperature, in summer as in winter, generates a 7% increase in the risk of acute myocardial infarction. ” For high-risk patients, the clinical implications of our results suggest avoiding large temperature variations and we recommend that they wear sufficiently warm clothing when there are temperature drops,” explains researcher Marc Claeys.
A second study carried out in seven European countries suggests that risk factors for cardiovascular disease indeed increase during the winter months. This Swiss study recruited more than 100,000 subjects aged between 35 and 80 in Europe.
Researchers from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne analyzed data such as body mass index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol level , LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose.
Three risk factors that increased in winter: systolic and diastolic pressure, and waist circumference. In contrast, cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose did not show seasonal variations.
One of the collaborators of this study, Pedro Marques-Vidal suggested “that high ambient temperatures lead to vasodilation and sweating, which lowers blood pressure. It is also possible that people do more sport in the summer and eat a more balanced diet.“.
