The reports that give persons lost their lives in a ingle day due to heart attacks is extremely worrisome for a place like Kashmir where temperatures during winters go to a freezing level. Heart attacks are worrisome in their own right, but did you know that data shows heart attacks (and strokes) are more common in the winter? Several studies over the years have confirmed that this statistic is certainly not a fluke, which has led to further investigation.
Why more heart attacks in winter? What could be causing this phenomenon and is there any way you can lower your risk? The great thing is that since its discovery, many doctors and cardiology experts have put forth the potential causes for this rise.
According to some studies, there may be a 31-33% higher incidence of heart attacks in winter and every 1-degree Celsius drop in temperature came with a 0.49% increase in deaths from all causes.
Besides a wide variety of reasons it has been seen that the winter months also bring behavioural changes. This includes lower levels of physical activity and weight gain. Both these can contribute to higher chances of developing complications that may lead to a heart attack. People may also increase their food consumption which further compounds the weight gain issue.
Another important factor is the lower levels of sun exposure. Either due to being indoors more often or because some places simply get less sunlight, this reduced exposure to the sun can lead to deficiencies in Vitamin D.
The government of J&K should come up with a comprehensive plan to make the people aware about various chronic ailments that mostly occur due to cold season. The health department should equip all it’s hospitals especially it’s peripheral hospitals with life saving drugs so that no more precious lives are loss for any of such reasons.
