Shovelling snow is something most Canadians have to do in winter and, as recent news indicates, it can kill you. People have died in the massive snow storms that hit the northern U.S. this week, some of them from heart failure provoked by shovelling. The numbers are small, but striking.
“We know that most Canadians are inactive and in most cases unfit, and when we get these big snowfalls and go out shovelling, sometimes, the literal physical stress we put on our body is just too much,” says Matthew Mayer, a senior specialist of research at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
How shovelling can kill
Most at risk are people who don’t exercise. When a person starts to shovel vigorously, the blood flow to the heart speeds up. If they have plaque in their arteries, the rush of blood can make some of the plaque rupture and produce blood clots. They, in turn, can interfere with the oxygen supply and cause a heart attack.
The best way to prevent this is to keep fit all year around, and to warm up before shovelling, as one should before any strenuous physical sport. Mayer suggests something as easy as taking a short walk to get the blood flowing.
Another strategy is to curl up with a hot chocolate and pay or cajole someone else to do it.
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