Heart attack risk increases in winter

Publication Date:14/12/2007

Heart attacks become more common as the cold weather sets in. If someone is having a heart attack, getting medical help quickly can mean the difference between life and death, so make sure you know how to recognise a heart attack and what you should do about it.

What is a heart attack?

Your heart is a muscle and works like a pump. It constantly pumps blood around your body, bringing vital oxygen and nutrients to all your cells. If it stops working properly, cells all over your body start to die from lack of oxygen.

Like the rest of your body, your heart needs its own supply of blood. Heart attacks happen when a blood clot gets stuck in the blood vessels that provide your heart with blood. If the clot stops blood getting through, the cells that make up your heart muscle start to die. This damages your heart and stops it from working properly.

If you have a heart attack, your heart may:

Not be able to pump strongly enough
Beat too fast or with an irregular rhythm
Stop altogether.

What are the symptoms?

These are the 'classic' heart attack symptoms:

A crushing pain in your chest, which may go down your arms or into your jaw. The pain doesn’t go away with painkillers or rest
Breathlessness
Feeling sick or vomiting
Sweating and feeling very anxious
Going pale, with a blue tinge to your skin
Feeling your heart fluttering irregularly or thumping very fast.

But not everyone gets these symptoms. Women, people with diabetes and older people may not have bad chest pain. They may just have breathlessness or get a milder pain in the chest, jaw, back or shoulder.

Most people stay conscious (awake) during their heart attack. If someone becomes unconscious, it probably means their heart is not pumping enough blood to their brain.

What should I do?

If you think someone may be having a heart attack, call 999 for an ambulance immediately. Don’t wait to see if they get better; treatments work best if they are started as soon as possible.

While waiting for the ambulance, they should take an aspirin (unless they are allergic to aspirin). Aspirin helps stop the blood clotting and protects the heart from more damage. But call the ambulance first, before looking for an aspirin.

If someone is unconscious and not breathing properly, they may need first aid resuscitation. It’s best to have training for this. But the 999 operator will be able to talk you through it, even if you haven’t had training. Usually, for an adult, you need to press 30 times in the centre of their chest, using the heel of your hand. Then give two ‘rescue breaths’ by breathing steadily into their mouth, while holding their nose closed. Repeat this sequence until they are able to breathe alone or until the ambulance arrives.

Why does the risk go up in winter?

Doctors are not sure why heart attacks are more common in the winter. It may be because blood can clot more easily at cold temperatures (heart attacks are caused by blood clots in the blood vessels that deliver your heart's own supply of blood). Or heart attacks may be more common in the winter because of how your body adapts to sudden changes in the weather. Some studies have also shown that infections like the flu may bring on a heart attack in people at risk.

What does this mean for me?

If you or someone you know is at risk of having a heart attack, it’s important to know the warning symptoms and what to do about them.

Men who are middle aged or older and have a family history of heart attacks are at an increased risk of getting a heart attack. People who smoke and have high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes have an added risk. Being overweight, not exercising enough, smoking and being under stress are also risk factors.

You can learn how to do resuscitation from the British Red Cross, which runs courses in first aid across the country. Contact them on 08701 709 222 or see the website http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?id=40626.

To find out more, read our information on heart attacks.

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This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.