Cold-Hearted

 

CLEOPATRA: Ah, dear, if I be so,
From my cold heart let heaven engender hail,
And poison it in the source

 

The expression cold-hearted means showing no understanding, no feeling towards another. It is unsympathetic, unemotional, uncaring and cruel. If used in a sentence it might look like this: “The cold-hearted landlord evicted the poor family with a sick child”. The first known use of the adjective cold-hearted is in Shakespeare’s play, “Antony and Cleopatra”. Certainly, Cleopatra could be considered cold-hearted due to her various plots to overthrow her brother and rule Egypt. Heart attacks can also be considered cold-hearted. A heart attack does not discriminate; it can affect men or women, young or old, rich or poor. It can strike at any time of the day or night, often without warning. Despite that, heart attacks do have some predictable variation. For example, heart attack risk changes with the season of the year and is associated with extremes of temperature, both hot and cold.  The only known example of Cleopatra’s handwriting is a single Greek work, γίνεσθοι, which she wrote on a papyrus addressed to a tax collector in 33 BC. It translates to, “so be it” or “make it happen”. Heeding the queen’s order, we will now “make it happen” and outline when heart attacks are the most cold-hearted.  

 

A heart attack occurs when a plaque in a heart artery breaks open. When the blood is exposed to foreign material (such as an exposed plaque), it does what it is supposed to do and forms a blood clot within the artery. If the clot totally obstructs the flow of blood, the type of resulting heart attack is called a STEMI (ST elevation myocardial infarction). If there is still some residual blood flow through the blockage and clot, then the heart attack is a nonSTEMI. For both types of heart attack, there is a U-shaped association with temperature. There is an increased risk for heart attack on very cold and on very hot days. Since we are in the throes of winter, we’ll concentrate on the cold weather effects on the heart. An increase in heart attacks and heart attack deaths in the winter was first noticed in the 1930’s. A large database studied heart attacks from the 1980’s and 1990’s and quantified the risk. A seasonal distribution was confirmed; there were 50% more heart attacks in the winter months compared to the summer time. The peak number of cases were in January, followed by February, March, November and December. Another series, also from the 1990’s, concluded that coronary events were 20-40% more likely to happen in the winter and spring versus other times of the year. One other study (1980’s-1990’s) also showed that the month with the highest mortality rate due to a heart attack was January.  Lastly, a study from Minnesota (1979-2002) showed that a temperature below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) was strongly associated with death due to a heart attack.

 

A lot has changed in the 25 to 30 years since this data was reported. At least two factors have changed significantly. First, heart attack care has vastly improved. Catheterization and coronary stenting during the acute event (especially STEMI) restores blood flow and subsequently fewer patients die from their heart attack. Secondly, there is global warming. Since the 1950’s each decade is hotter than the previous one. Globally, the temperature has risen 0.17 degrees Fahrenheit each decade, with steeper rise since the 1970’s. Has the combination of warmer weather and improvement in cardiac care reduced the risk for having a heart attack in winter? To answer this a group from Germany looked at temperature and heart attacks in two distinct periods, 1987 to 2000 and 2001 to 2014. During those time periods, the average daily maximum temperature rose from 14.5 degrees C (58.1 degrees F) during 1987-2000 to 15.1 degrees C (59.2 degrees F) in 2001-2014. They found no significant decline in cold related heart attacks when comparing the two eras. Heart attack risk remained high with very cold temperature. Another group studied data from five European countries between 1994 and 2010. They also found that cold weather was associated with an increased risk for heart attack, without change over time. With a drop in temperature from 5 degrees C (41 degrees F) to – 5 degrees C (23 degrees F) there is about 20% increased risk for heart attack and cardiac death. Lastly, a study from Taiwan looking at data from 2000 to 2017 showed that below 15 degrees C (59 degrees F), every 1 degree drop in temperature increased the risk for heart attack by 0.9%.

 

The relationship between cold weather and heart attack has been seen across the globe, in different eras, with different populations and with different weather conditions. It even holds up locally. Over the past five years, the month with the second highest risk for STEMI at Robert Wood Johnson Somerset has been January. How does cold affect the heart and who is at risk?   Elderly patients (over 65 years old) are more susceptible to cold related heart attacks than younger people. The highest risk are older patients with hypertension (high blood pressure). Cold weather increases blood pressure and causes spasm of the heart arteries. This leads to an increase in the work load of the heart. Cold weather increases the thickness of the blood, increases clotting factors and increases inflammation. All of the factors can cause a vulnerable heart plaque to open and trigger a heart attack. The winter months also increase the risk for respiratory infections (for example, flu) which act as a trigger for a heart attack. Other cold related factors include less physical activity, weight gain and holiday stress adding to the risk for heart attack in the winter. 

 

For the elderly heart patient, the cold weather can be as deadly as an asp. For those with significant heart disease, here are some cold weather recommendations. Skip strenuous activity outdoors when the temperature (or the wind chill) is below 30 degrees F and do your exercising indoors. When outside, try to cover all exposed skin. Make sure the heating system in the house is working and use it! The World Health Organization suggests keeping the indoor temperature above 68 degrees F. Lastly, relax with a cup of tea by the fire and count the days until spring.