Tag Archive for: heart attack

The Silent Killer

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On Tuesday, I told you about an article sent to me by a long-time reader. Today’s message is about an email sent to me the same day as the other, but it’s quite different.

In the second email, a woman let me know that her husband had passed away in his sleep several months ago. He was not overweight and seemed healthy. When the medical university nearby did an autopsy, they found he had an enlarged heart, most likely due to high blood pressure. That’s one of the reasons hypertension is called the silent killer.

I . . .

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Death by Donut

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There are times when the topics I write about seem to align like astronomical events; it’s as if I’m compelled because of a series of apparently unrelated actions. This time, emails from two people prompted me to write about heart disease. Yes, it’s American Heart Month and I generally write about it every year. But what would get your attention? What might drive you to take action? Let’s see if the messages this week will do it.

Thanks to S.B., a longtime reader, for sending me a link to a story about a man who . . .

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Expert Advice on Snow

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We’ve talked about the science behind the increase in heart attacks with heavy snowfalls. Today I’ll share some expert advice from Randy in Fredonia, New York; here’s what he recommends when you’re dealing with heavy snowfalls:

  • “Pry open your wallet and pay someone with a big machine to take care of the bulk of the snow if necessary.
  • “Hire a kid to dig out your walk.
  • “Wait a few days for it to melt. A couple of days after the snow stopped, it got up to 60 degrees and most . . .

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Why Snow Causes Heart Attacks

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This week’s messages were inspired by the recent extraordinary snowfall in Buffalo. Continuing with why heart attacks seems to happen more when shoveling show than other types of strenuous activity, let’s consider other factors besides breath holding that occur during a heavy snowfall.

One of those is the actual snowfall itself. A couple of inches of light fluffy snow weighs next to nothing, but heavy wet snow is more like lifting water itself—it’s heavy. For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure, fill a five gallon pail with water, put it on a shovel . . .

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Snow and Valsalva

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I got an email from a long-time friend and reader of my messages who lives in a suburb of Buffalo. You won’t be surprised the topic was snow in light of the recent eight feet of snow that blanketed the area. What you may not know is that I’m originally from a suburb of Buffalo myself, but living in Grand Rapids, we get our share of lake effect snow including the day before that storm hit Buffalo. In our yard, the snow was close to 18 inches.

He emailed me to share some thoughts on how to . . .

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