Chronic Conditions in Cold Weather: Essential Tests and Precautions

As temperatures start to drop in India, people with chronic medical conditions like diabetes, arthritis, asthma, and heart disease need to take extra precautions. Winter conditions lead to reduced body temperature. Therefore, the body goes through thermoregulation so that it can adapt to the new weather conditions.

At times, this transition is displayed through undergoing several winter chronic diseases. However, with a little effort and adopting some precautions this winter season, you can have a supercharged, healthy winter. We have compiled winter health tips for chronic conditions so that you can survive winter with chronic conditions that make you cold-sensitive.

What Causes Chronic Conditions in Cold Weather?

Cold weather acts as a shock to the body when the temperature drops during winter. Similarly, extreme temperature drops also affect health, causing psoriasis, Asthma, arthritis, Raynaud's disease, and autoimmune diseases like anaemia, lupus and multiple sclerosis. These conditions are prevalent if you;

• Wear clothes that are not warm enough for the prevailing conditions.
• Stay outside for longer hours.
• Fall in the water, especially while boating in a lake, and unable to move to a dry condition as soon as possible.
• Live in a house with a poor heating system or excess air conditioning.

Therefore, keeping yourself warm is extremely important. Various precautions should be taken to protect yourself from winter chronic conditions.

Types of Winter Chronic Conditions

Chronic conditions in winter can take a toll on your health. Therefore, you must know about the types of chronic conditions in winter and how to detect and prevent them.

Let’s look at some of the common chronic conditions in winter.

Coping with Diabetes

A cold climate restricts blood vessels, forcing the body to conserve heat by keeping blood closer to vital organs. This changes how efficiently insulin transports glucose out of the bloodstream for energy usage. As blood circulation slows, blood sugar can spike.

Detection:

• Monitor blood sugar frequently and test glucose readings more often than usual, before meals, before sleeping, and even twice daily.
• Schedule an HbA1C, lipid profile, kidney function, and electrolyte tests.
• Due to varied insulin needs, ensure levels do not go too high or dip abnormally low.

Prevention:

• Stay Hydrated and drink adequate warm fluids like soups, herbal teas, etc. Dehydration concentrated sugar levels in the blood since less fluid volume is available for dilution.
• Look out for chilblains and itchy, red, swollen skin patches that can occur in extreme cold.

Guarding Your Heart

Cold temperatures cause blood vessels to narrow and blood to thicken. This makes the heart work harder. People with heart disease are at higher risk in winter. The cold can bring on chest pain, irregular heartbeats, or even heart attacks. Things that raise the risk include:

• Narrowed arteries,
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Being overweight.

Detection:

Before winter gets very cold, visit your doctor. Get tested to check:

• Cholesterol levels
• Heart disease markers in the blood
• Your heart rhythm using an ECG.

These tests help spot issues early so that treatment can be changed. Tell your doctor if you notice possible signs like chest tightness, fluttering heartbeats, swelling, or sudden tiredness in winter.

Prevention

To reduce heart strain in cold months:

• Get enough sleep and avoid chaotic sleep schedules.
• Nap during the day if tired instead of drinking too much coffee/tea.
• Follow the doctor's guidance on safe exercise for your heart condition.
• Take all medications for your heart as prescribed.

Battling Arthritis Pain

Arthritic pain stems from inflammation affecting bone and joint cartilage. Cold, dry weather constricts blood vessels and reduces blood circulation to extremities, exacerbating stiffness, swelling, and pain in affected joints. People with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis suffer more in winter, struggling to get out of bed, walk comfortably or grip things.

Detection: Get a Complete Blood Count test and Vitamin D Status. Rheumatoid arthritis patients should test for ESR (elevated sedimentation rates indicating inflammation) and Cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody produced in most RA cases.

Prevention:

• Wear thermal innerwear under warm, baggy, layered clothing to retain body heat.
• Use joint braces, supports, splints, and walking aids to reduce strain on sore joints.
• Apply hot packs and massage swelling joints lightly to stimulate blood supply.
• Perform low-impact flexibility exercises to alleviate stiffening.
• Correct nutrient intake also alleviates symptoms, so consume anti-inflammatory foods like fatty fish, berries, and greens and avoid gluten and refined sugars.

Asthma Management

Asthma worsens for many in winter as the air is dry and cold. This irritates inflamed airways that are already sensitive to triggers like dust mites, pet hair, pollen, etc. Dryness provokes cells lining the airway to swell and release histamines/leukotrienes, causing thicker mucus secretions. Constricted breathing tubes fill with mucus and tighten further, hampering airflow.

Detection: Get pulmonary testing done before winter, measuring lung capacity and airflow velocity.

Prevention:

• Wrap a muffler around your nose and mouth while venturing out so inhaled air warms slightly before entering the airways.
• Wear an N95 pollution mask if smog or fumes could trigger wheezing.
• Go out for brief periods only during extreme temperature dips.

Where are the Risks Involved - A Deeper Analysis

Chronic ailments are vulnerable to people with specific conditions. The risk factors for chronic conditions in cold weather include:

• Fatigue: The more fatigued you are, the more chances of chronic ailments increase. Thus, fatigue is a risk factor for your health during winter.
• Mental Issues: People with dementia or other such mental issues may wander outside in the cold and get themselves stranded in such extreme weather.
• Certain Medical Disorders: Some health disorders may affect your body’s capacity to regulate body temperature. Health disorders like thyroid (hypothyroidism), poor nutrition, diabetes, stroke, severe arthritis, depression, trauma, and spinal cord injuries.
• Other Medications: If you are undergoing treatment and consuming certain drugs that can change the body's ability to regulate its temperature, you are more prone to chronic diseases in winter. These drugs and medications include certain antidepressants, antipsychotics, narcotic pain medications, and sedatives.

When Should You See a Doctor?

As cold weather conditions arise, preventive health check-ups are the best option to overcome winter diseases and restore good health in the cold weather.

During the winter season, you get reduced exposure to sunlight, which leads to vitamin D deficiency. So, a simple blood test to check the vitamin D level is necessary to determine the requirement of supplements to support your bone health, immunity system, and overall well-being.

Other blood tests that might be required to diagnose your health conditions are;

• Anemia
• seasonal allergies like sneezing, congestion, or itchy eyes
• Thyroid
• Seasonal Affective disorder

Thus, by determining your thyroid, cholesterol, vitamin levels, immune system, and overall health, you can deal with any winter chronic issues and make informed decisions about your health. Follow the winter health tips for chronic conditions.

Ensure that you consult with a reliable healthcare provider like Apollo Diagnostics so that you can determine which blood tests are most relevant for your specific needs. We assure the best health diagnosis to stay healthy even in extreme conditions.

FAQs

Can winter chronic diseases be cured?

Yes, with suitable diagnosis and better precautionary steps, chronic illness in winter can be cured. Adding vitamin C to your diet, drinking herbal teas, meditating, and keeping yourself warm can prevent chronic diseases in winter.

What are the types of winter chronic diseases?

The types of such chronic conditions in winter are sore and strep throat, asthma, acute ear infection, pneumonia, common cold and cough, the inter-v vomiting bug, frost bites, and psoriasis.

Why should cardiac patients get tested before winter?

Heart patients should get lipid profiles, cardiac risk marker tests, and ECGs before winter as cold can raise blood pressure and cholesterol and strain the heart. This helps customise treatment to prevent risk and manage exertion.