Chest Pain
Can Cold Weather Cause More Heart Attacks?
The weather is not typically at the top of the list when we think of the causes of heart attacks. To be sure, lack of exercise and poor dietary choices are the primary causes behind this deadly condition. However, patients must understand what they’re feeling during cold weather and whether it is a warning sign of cardiovascular disease or an impending heart attack.
Here in Nevada, temperatures can get pretty cold, and regardless of what we wear, our bodies try to compensate for even small temperature changes. The body does so in the cold by constricting blood vessels to retain more heat in the core. This is why your skin turns white and blue if exposed to very cold conditions. Remember that your vascular system requires body heat to work correctly, so by reducing blood flow to less important peripheral structures, our body can keep us alive longer, for example, in an emergency. Of course, when a blood vessel constricts, less blood circulates. This is rarely a concern in an adult with a healthy cardiovascular system, as even reduced blood flow still provides enough oxygen throughout the body.
An Introduction to Chest Pain
“Chest pain” is a general term used in the medical profession to describe ANY SYMPTOM IN THE CHEST. It may be a sign that the heart is not getting enough blood and should be evaluated in a timely manner. Pain in the chest may be described as a tightness, burning, squeezing, or sharp pain. It is important to remember that every person is unique, and symptoms may not necessarily come out of a textbook.
The location of chest pain is not necessarily critical in determining how serious it is. A heart attack or angina can present with right-sided chest pain even though the heart is located primarily in the center and left part of the chest. The nerves inside the body (unlike the nerves on our skin) are very vague and may not exactly correlate with the location of the problem.