Heart Attacks after Shoveling Snow
07/08 -
from "Rust Out" by Dr Bailey page 90
A heart attack after shoveling snow is 53 times more likely to occur in someone who is out of shape. Snow shoveling causes blood-circulation changes that stress the heart. Physically active people can handle the changes much better than people who are usually inactive. The best defense is to wait at least one to two hours after waking up to start shoveling because blood is more likely to clot shortly after you have been sleeping. Walk or stretch for five to 15 minutes before starting to shovel. Use a small, light shovel blade so you lift lighter loads.
—Murray Mittleman, MD, DPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, whose study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
