Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

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mercalia
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Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by mercalia »

Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30119410

This article is about shoveling snow but raises issues about cycling in the cold?
thirdcrank
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by thirdcrank »

I think part of the snow shovelling thing is people doing something they are not used to and often under pressure eg late for work because of the snow . I think it would be foolhardy for somebody who wasn't a regular cyclist to practice their hill climbing in cold weather, especially the extreme cold experienced in parts of the USA in winter. I had my first inklings of heart disease while riding on a very cold day - by UK standards - on quiet roads billiard board flat just north of Doncaster. I was pootling along when I felt a sharp pain in my chest, which persisted a few minutes. I rode through it and thought no more of it. When angina was diagnosed several months later following different symptoms, the cardiologist said that pain was probably when my heart had created its own bypass to some clogging, aggravated by the cold weather. The medical opinion seemed to be that the underlying fitness from decades of cycling had saved me.
Mistik-ka
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by Mistik-ka »

At last, a topic where I can claim some experience and expertise — I've lived in Canada all my life, have ridden bicycles for 60 years, and worked for a quarter of a century as a physiotherapist with cardiac surgery and rehab patients :D

The BBC article spells out the reasons why snow shovelling puts so much stress on the heart. I'd add one more factor: usually people don't have a 'warm up' period before shovelling, so their hearts go from resting rate and output to maximum stress in a matter of seconds. I would not go as far as the cardiologist they interviewed, suggesting no one over 55 should shovel snow. Judging by the forecast, I'll be doing a bit of shovelling myself (age 66) before today is over. My recommendations: stay fit (yes, thirdcrank, your heart is undoubtedly stronger because of your decades of cycling, and the angina probably would have started many years sooner if you hadn't stayed active); dress for the weather; start slowly and increase your effort gradually, don't push yourself to absolute maximum effort, and if you've a lot of shovelling to do, take a break now and then and don't overtire yourself. And for goodness sake, go see a doctor at the first episode of chest tightness or pain, or if you feel as if you're getting tired abnormally quickly.

Now to bicycling: almost everything about it is good for the heart — exercise bikes are central to our cardiac rehab program for that very reason. Warm up gradually, don't push to exhaustion, don't 'ride through' any worrisome symptoms if they show up — they're there to warn you about something. (Tsk, tsk, tsk, thirdcrank…)

If you're fit, you can even go hill-climbing in the cold (if that sort of thing makes you happy :roll: ), but don't jump on your bike and head straight up a 25% grade at full speed. (Sorry, if I'd been following the threads on grading hills more carefully I might have chosen a better number :oops: , but you get the idea.) Again, increase your effort gradually for five or ten minutes before you really start to push.

If you're planning to change your intensity of cycling, checking with your doctor might be wise. But if you're not going to extremes, just get out and ride and enjoy it — your heart will thank you.
LollyKat
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by LollyKat »

thirdcrank wrote:The medical opinion seemed to be that the underlying fitness from decades of cycling had saved me.

I'm surprised your general fitness didn't protect you against angina in the first instance. I don't know much about it, though - my granny and a cousin suffered from angina but they were a bit overweight and not very fit.
thirdcrank
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by thirdcrank »

LollyKat wrote: ... I'm surprised .....


Not half as surprised as I was, although I'd not say I was superfit. I spent my formative years living in a part of Leeds 12 which has since become notorious for a local asbestos factory which has been linked to many deaths. When I started getting the chest pains after riding up big hills, I assumed it was my lungs.
Mistik-ka
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by Mistik-ka »

LollyKat wrote: I'm surprised your general fitness didn't protect you against angina in the first instance. I don't know much about it, though - my granny and a cousin suffered from angina but they were a bit overweight and not very fit.


Heredity, age, and gender (none of which you can control) all play a major role in developing atherosclerosis (the most common and significant contributor to "heart attack"). What a healthy, active life will do for you is diminish to effects of those things and delay their onset. Somthing's going to get you sooner or later :?. Ride your bike; enjoy yourself — you're likely to make it later, instead of sooner … and have more fun along the way :) .
thirdcrank
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by thirdcrank »

The last time they checked my ticker, there was no sign of my ever having had a heart attack. The angina was diagnosed over a decade ago now, and at that time I became down in the dumps (litotes here.) My GP, faced with a patient who had never smoked, regular , longstanding cyclist etc, latched onto my dear old dad having had a heart attack in his 50's. He was lifelong and very heavy smoker 40 Capstan Full Strength a day etc and eventually died from bowel cancer aged 69 (BTW, I've just outlived him) FWIW, I suspect that shift work was my undoing. Thankfully, once my blood pressure was under control and I was taking a stack of medication including angio-tensin wotnots, the symptoms of the angina stopped. I have the mandatory sub-lingual spray but I've never needed to use it. That may also be something to do with them frightening me off riding up big hills. I've never given up digging snow, but global warming seems to mean it's rarely necessary these days.
Mistik-ka
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by Mistik-ka »

thirdcrank wrote: I've never given up digging snow, but global warming seems to mean it's rarely necessary these days.

I think we'll have you with us for a few good years yet :wink:

I certainly hope shovelling snow isn't lethal. This was 2013, and there's no reason to think there won't be a bit more of this on the Canadian prairies this year:
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thirdcrank
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by thirdcrank »

Nice snow shovel! :D

I'm embarrassed to admit that I have four: Two large ones for doing the street, and two folding ones for driving. Incidentally, there's nothing like clearing snow to bring out the old jokes, as in

"When you've finished there, they need volunteers to do the third lane of the M62." :roll:
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Mick F
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by Mick F »

Mistik-ka wrote:If you're fit, you can even go hill-climbing in the cold (if that sort of thing makes you happy :roll: ), but don't jump on your bike and head straight up a 25% grade at full speed.
We live on the side of a steep valley.

Although I don't ride at full speed, a 25% gradient isn't very far from our front door! :shock:

Actually, I ether go down steeply to the bridge at the bottom, then two miles of steady 8% up into Devon ....... or head up the infamous Gunnislake Hill of 12% for a mile or more and maybe 6% for another mile.

Taking my time is enough of a warm-up.
Mick F. Cornwall
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al_yrpal
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by al_yrpal »

We have quite a few short 20% hills around here. I shall approach them more carefully after reading this!
My son, 34 at the time, had an episode returning from a skiing holiday in Canada. Changing flights at Toronto he had a sort of heart attack affecting his left arm etc. It was thought it related to skiing, the cold and the fact that he had a cold virus. He had cardioversion and spent 3 weeks in hospital there (good old Direct Line!).
The combination of physical effort, extreme cold and a virus is a thing to be avoided.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Mistik-ka
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by Mistik-ka »

Mick F wrote:Taking my time is enough of a warm-up.

Indeed it is :wink:
Flinders
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by Flinders »

al_yrpal wrote:We have quite a few short 20% hills around here. I shall approach them more carefully after reading this!
My son, 34 at the time, had an episode returning from a skiing holiday in Canada. Changing flights at Toronto he had a sort of heart attack affecting his left arm etc. It was thought it related to skiing, the cold and the fact that he had a cold virus. He had cardioversion and spent 3 weeks in hospital there (good old Direct Line!).
The combination of physical effort, extreme cold and a virus is a thing to be avoided.

Al


That's alarming....hope your son made a full recovery.

They are always careful not to run a racehorse if it has any kind of 'gunk' in its nose/sinuses/windpipe - not so much for the heart, I gather, but because if you run one hard with a 'snotty nose' -usually due to a virus- you can damage its breathing permanently. They actually 'scope' them (put a tube down to check) if they're in doubt. A horse doesn't know when it shouldn't run, and would be quite happy to gallop around and harm itself if left to itself. That's made me careful not to overdo it when I've got a chesty cold, it may not affect humans the same way, but I like to be on the safe side.
Gearoidmuar
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There is another factor...

Post by Gearoidmuar »

People talk about cardio or cardio fitness. What the vast majority of people don't realise is that the fitness is in the muscles specific to the exercise. A concert pianist has extremely fit small arm and hand muscles, a runner has to have upper and lower leg muscles very fit, a cyclist has to have the quads, esp. the vastus medialis.
You put an extremely fit cyclist who can swim well, but doesn't, into a pool and he will be gasping in no time.
You can be fit enough walking or running, but unless you use your shovelling muscles regularly, you are going to be gasping with a very high pulse in no time.
TonyR
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Re: Why do so many people die shovelling snow?

Post by TonyR »

Going out in the cold to shovel snow or cycle is equivalent to doing a "cold pressor test" - a medical test in which a hand is immersed in cold water. The test causes changes in blood pressure and heart rate and causes a number of physiological changes related to the heart. It can be a predictor of cardiac problems. So it's not surprising that going out and getting cold limbs while taking vigorous exercise by those who are usually sedentary picks off some of those with undiagnosed coronary problems
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