Whether you?re suffering the December sniffles or a full-blown assault on the sinuses, check your blood pressure before heading to the pharmacy counter.
Winter months bring extra dangers for heart disease patients, the American Heart Association warns. Getting a flu shot, understanding which medications may raise blood pressure and avoiding over-exertion are essential.
“People tend to gain weight, and raise their blood pressure,” said Dr. Roger Blumenthal, director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “People need to make time for exercise and keep active and not overdo things during these busy times.”
But if you do fall under the weather, be careful what you resort to for relief. Decongestants in over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine can raise blood pressure, and continual use can lead to serious risks for people with high blood pressure, Blumenthal said.
Decongestants work by constricting blood vessels, including those in the nose. This in turn shrinks swelling in the nose and opens nasal passages, according to the Web site familydoctor.org. While constriction of blood vessels helps alleviate congestion, decongestants may raise blood pressure.
Additional Winter Dangers
» Death from the flu is more common among people with cardiovascular disease than those with any other chronic condition, according to an advisory from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology. They give the following advice:
» Patients with cardiovascular disease should not receive the weakened, live vaccine given. Anyone can benefit by getting the shot as late as December or even January, because the flu season often lasts well into March.
» Consult with your physician before considering shoveling snow, which can cause major stress on heart patients.
» Visit www.americanheart.org for more information on winter heart health.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
» Visit www.americanheart.org/hbp for a High Blood Pressure Health Risk Calculator.
» For more information about the flu, visit www.americanheart.org/flu.
