Health alert: Experts urge caution for heart risks during heavy snow removal

CHICAGO - Similar to the annual winter overnight parking ban, here's a much more crucial yearly reminder: prioritize your health amidst the season's initial heavy snowfall.

Anticipate heavy, dense snowfall ahead – a challenge to shovel. Depending on your property's size, it might entail significant physical exertion and demanding labor to clear sidewalks, walkways and driveways.

Emergency room physicians note an increase in individuals experiencing heart attacks, chest discomfort and various heart-related issues due to shoveling. 

For older adults with high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol or obesity, medical experts recommend seeking assistance for snow removal tasks.

"What ends up happening with coronary artery disease is blood doesn't get to the right place at the right time and so what you get is, if you really stress the heart, really suddenly, like you would with extreme exercise, like shoveling heavy snow, it's possible that you are stressing your body to the point where is not getting to your heart or certain aspects of your heart at the right time," said Dr. Corey Goldstein of RUSH University Medical Center.

Goldstein says out of an abundance of caution, anyone over the age of 45 with those risk factors should not shovel the kind of snow the Chicago area is expected to see starting Tuesday.