WEEK OF JANUARY 2, 2025
VOLUME 23 | ISSUE 4
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Cold weather brings heart risks Winter can play havoc with health due to ‘perfect recipe’ BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When snow blankets the streets around the Denver metro area, it’s not just roads that become treacherous — your heart might be at risk too. The combination of cold temperatures, reduced physical activity and sudden strenuous tasks can create a “perfect recipe” for heart attacks, according to Dr. Akhil Reddy, an interventional and structural cardiologist with HCA HealthONE in Denver. Many might assume the cold itself is the problem, but Reddy clarified that it’s not so much the temperature as it is the activity people undertake in the cold. “The more common scenario is people shoveling snow and exerting themselves and having an active myocardial infarction, or heart attack,” he explained. According to the AHA, intense physical effort combined with cold temperatures forces the heart to work overtime. Blood vessels constrict in the cold, causing blood pressure to rise. When paired with the sudden cardiovascular demand of activities like shoveling snow, this can trigger heart attacks, especially in people with pre-existing risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. Physical exertion in cold weather can be deceptively dangerous
local senior center and his grandmother and her friends encouraged him to run for city council. He ran his first race that year at the age of 18 and was later elected at age 24. After moving to Parker, he ran for town council in 2016 and was elected in 2018, in which he served for two years. “Some people join Rotary, some people join a club,” said Toborg. Serving as an elected official is “just my way to give.” Torbog said he didn’t initially think
Shoveling snow may look like a mundane household task, but research shows it’s a workout that rivals intense cardio. “Shoveling a little snow off your sidewalk may not seem like hard work,” said Barry Franklin, the lead author of the American Heart Association’s 2020 scientific statement regarding exercise-related acute cardiovascular events. “However, the strain of heavy snow shoveling may be as or even more demanding on the heart than taking a treadmill stress test, according to research we’ve conducted.” “The movements of snow shoveling are very taxing and demanding on your body and can cause significant increases in your heart rate and blood pressure,” Franklin told the AHA. “Combined with the fact that the exposure to cold air can constrict blood vessels throughout the body, you’re asking your heart to do a lot more work in conditions that are diminishing the heart’s ability to function at its best.” According to Reddy, the danger lies in the sudden increase in demand on the cardiovascular system, particularly for people who are not regularly active. The heart, especially one that hasn’t been consistently active, is not ready for sudden, intense exertion. “When it’s cold outside, you’re more sedentary,” Reddy said. “You just don’t have the ability to understand your own limita-
SEE TOBORG, P12
SEE COLD WEATHER, P6
Outgoing Mayor Jeff Toborg addresses the public, thanking town staff and police for their work and commitment to the town.
PHOTO BY HALEY LENA
‘Just my way to give’ time for his personal interests, like Reflecting on the past Jeff Toborg, Parker’s outgoing ing skiing with his family this winter and Being involved in local government training his dog. has been part of Toborg’s life since he mayor, takes look back over However, his work in the community was a young adult in California. has not ended. Immediately following It was 1988 when he learned that a the four years of his term the end of his term, Toborg joined the new roof wasn’t going to be put on the BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Within a few days, Jeff Toborg went from attending a business opening as the mayor of Parker to sitting in a coffee shop as a Parker resident, reflecting on his past four years. “I’m kind of that one-day-at-a-time guy,” said Toborg. “So all the questions about ‘what are you doing next’ are kind of like, I don’t know yet.” Similar to other elected officials whose terms end, Toborg plans on tak-
Step Seven Ministries board, a faithbased recovery and rehabilitation organization. He also serves on the Douglas County Community Foundation board, Operation Equine, and is active with the Douglas County GOP. “I will more than likely hold elected office one day in the future,” said Toborg. “What that is, I don’t know.” When Joshua Rivero was sworn in as the town’s eighth mayor on Dec. 16, Toborg said that a good man had won in Parker and told the Parker Chronicle that he hopes his supporters will continue to support Parker.
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