One of my oldest son's closest friends, in his mid 40s, had a mild heart attack after shoveling snow last Wednesday. He's fine - had a stent inserted in the smallest artery leading to his heart, and the cardiologist says that there is no sign of damage to the heart muscle because he was smart enough to call 911 when he started feeling ill, instead of trying to "tough it out" and "be a man" (aren't men fun that way?).
The cardiologist said that one reason so many heart attacks follow snow shoveling is that the shoveler is working harder than he usually does *and* is breathing in cold air, chilling the lungs, which causes the blood vessels to constrict and if any plaque (which we all have) breaks loose it is more likely to make a blockage. The cardiologist told my son's friend that he wishes people who are shoveling snow or exerting themselves in cold weather would wear masks that would help keep the cold air out of their lungs.

I wanted to pass that on. My live-in son had a long bout of coughing and general feeling ill after his snow-shoveling. He is an asthmatic (usually in remission), and when I told him what the cardiologist said he finally agreed that the next time he would wear the mask I got him many years ago.

By Conni on Saturday, February 17, 2007 - 07:48 am:

That is great info. Thanks for sharing, Ginny. I will pass this on to my family.

Sorry to hear your sons friend had a mild heart attack! Glad it wasn't any worse.

By Kaye on Saturday, February 17, 2007 - 08:15 am:

My grandmother told me the same thing a few years back. She always freaked out about me shoveling snow.