Health officials have a warning ahead of this week’s dangerous snow – don’t do any shoveling if you’re a middle aged or older person with known heart problems or a history of family heart disease. Dr. Barry Franklin is with Corewell Health. He says shoveling heavy, wet snow is the equivalent of strenuous exercise.
“Shoveling heavy, wet snow is the equivalent or worse than an exercise treadmill test,” says Franklin. “In other words, we found heart rates and blood pressures equal to or greater than maximal treadmill testing.”
Franklin says people who have known or hidden heart disease can experience deadly heart rhythm irregularities while shoveling, which is why he recommends that anyone at risk refrain from shoveling completely. Franklin says he’s lost two colleagues due to deaths while shoveling snow.
