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Rapid drop in air pressure may trigger heart attack
Last Updated: 2005-07-11 15:16:48 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Anthony J. Brown, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A rapid drop in air pressure -- as opposed to cold weather -- may trigger some heart attacks, research shows. According to a study published this month, the incidence of heart attack, but not stroke, is increased in the 24 hours after a rapid fall in barometric pressure.
"Previous reports have shown that there are more (heart attacks) in the wintertime," lead author Dr. Philip D. Houck, from The Scott & White Hospital and Clinic in Temple, Texas, told Reuters Health. But, this does not seem to relate to cold temperatures because even warm locations, such as Hawaii, have shown an increase in heart attacks during the winter, he explained.
Houck and others correlated atmospheric pressure data with the occurrence of heart attack and stroke in central Texas between 1993 and 1996. A total of 1327 heart attack patients and 839 stroke patients were identified.
The fall and winter showed the greatest variability in
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