Winter: Health Risks and Tips to Stay Healthy

Winter is coming, the cold wind, the snowfall, everything covered in a white blanket. Time to sing 'Do you wanna build a snowman?' and do other excitements no matter how cold is, like building a snow fort, snowball fighting, making a snow angel, all about snow!

But wait, some people do not know that the chilly weather is related to some health risks, such as cold, sore throat, asthma, painful joints, cold sores, flu, dry skin, norovirus, cold hands, hypothermia, even heart attacks.

In any cold condition, the body will react to the weather, like a freezing feeling in our toes and fingertips. The associate chief of clinical programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical center which is located in Boston, Dr. Suzanne Salamon told CNN that it happens to protect the vital organs (brain, heart, and lungs) from the cold and make it warm. This reaction is very important for the body, otherwise, someone will suffer one of the health problems as mentioned above.

According to the result of the journal The Lancet published in 2015, more temperature attributable deaths were caused by cold than by heat. This study analyzed over 70 million deaths caused across 13 countries. In India itself, between 2001-2014 (14 years), about 10,933 people (781 people per year) have died due to "cold and exposure". This data are taken from the Open Government Data (OGD) Platform of India Government.

Meanwhile in United Stated, as reported by USA Today which has an information from a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), about two thousand U.S residents died each year caused by weather. This data based on the death certificate from 2006-2010. The report also showed that 63% were attributed to exposure to excessive natural cold, hypothermia or both, and about 31% were attributed to exposure to excessive natural heat, heat stroke, sun stroke or all.

The worst health risk you may face in winter is a heart attack. It also becomes a death reason in winter as data were shown before. How is it possible? Harvard Medical School illustrated that cold weather has a capability as a vasoconstrictor, and it narrows blood vessels. so the risk of heart attack raises.

The British Medical Journal.also published a study to determine a possibility of heart attack and outdoor temperature. The participant were 84.010 hospital admissions for a heart attack in England and Wales during three years (2003-2006). 

The heart is not only the important organ that is sensitive with a winter. Mentioned by American Lung Association that cold air plays havoc with the lungs and health. People with lung disease can be irritated by dry air, and it leads to coughing, short breath, and wheezing. 

During the winter season, people must wear layered clothes to keep the body warm. Having a ski mask to protect ears and nose is important as well if we do activities outside. Salamon also said that a tight-fit clothes aren't a good choice. People simply can choose a looser sweater with a shawl and shocks inside a house. 

Even though the weather is cold outside, it is suggested by Dr. Luis Navarro, the Vein Treatment Center's physician and founder to keep doing exercise. Exercise and move around help a body to stay warm and healthy.