Weather can increase heart disease risk – expert

MANILA, Philippines — The weather can adversely affect heart health, Philippine Heart Association president Dr. Rodney Jimenez said yesterday.

He explained that if the weather is too cold, the blood vessels constrict.

“If you have a heart ailment, a blocked vessel, and you take a bath with cold water, some people experience chest pain. This is one of the direct or indirect cause of heart problems,” he said during the Bagong Pilipinas public briefing yesterday.

Heat, on the other hand, “causes stress, brings on heat stroke, dehydration. All of these are stressful for the heat, if you have an existing heart ailment,” according to Jimenez.

Heat and dehydration, Jimenez said, can cause stress to the heart even among those without cardiovascular illnesses.

Jimenez stressed that heat stroke is different from heart attack or brain stroke. He said heat stroke is temperature-driven and not directly related to the heart.

He noted that cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death among Filipinos.

Jimenez advised the public to take the necessary precautions to avoid heart ailments by refraining from eating fatty and oily food.

He said diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.