Shoveling snow could be deadly
By Jo Jolly, BBC
A study looking at data from 1990 to 2006 by researchers at the U.S. Nationwide Children’s Hospital recorded 1,647 fatalities from cardiac-related injuries associated with shoveling snow. In Canada, these deaths make the news every winter.
Cardiologist Barry Franklin, an expert in the hazardous effects of snow removal, believes the number of deaths could be double that.
“I believe we lose hundreds of people each year because of this activity,” saysFranklin, director of preventative cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at William Beaumont Hospital, Michigan.
His team found that when healthy young men shoveled snow, their heart rate and blood pressure increased more than when they exercised on a treadmill.