 Hi, I am Dr. Tanmay Ermaljain, consultant interventional cardiologist from Manipal Hospital, Kharadi, Pune. Today we are going to discuss about the effect of winter on heart. Generally, it is observed that the number of heart attack cases increases significantly during the winter season. The cold weather due to the winter affects the heart and health in a number of ways and leads to increased heart attack and other cardiac issues. During winter, due to the cold weather, there is shrinking or narrowing of the blood vessels of the heart and body, especially the coronaries. If there is shrinking of the blood vessels, it can lead to angina and in those vessels who already have a deposition of plaque or cholesterol in their heart blood vessels can lead to increased heart attack. The frequent change in the cold and warm weather during the winter season also can make the cholesterol plaque unstable and increase the risk of heart attacks. The cold weather can also affect the heart by increasing the pulse rate or heart rate and the blood pressure also increases. Otherwise also, nowadays we are seeing there are increased number of cases of heart attacks in the younger age group. This is and it has now become a more of lifestyle related disease. During winter, everyone of us should be more careful and conscious about our heart and health and especially those people who already have existing cardiac diseases or who have cardiac risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, smoking, stress, family history, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, all these people should be extra careful and alert about their health during winter. We all should be more preventive and maintain a healthy lifestyle during winter season and try to follow few basic steps to keep yourself warm, wear clothes in layers, take frequent or intermittent breaks during workouts, limit the intake of caffeine and alcohol and quit smoking and other drug addictions and try to do, maintain regular physical activities as a routine. During winter, if at all you have any of the symptoms or signs related to heart like chest pain, chest heaviness, breathlessness, palpitations or sweating, we all should not ignore all the symptoms and immediately reach out to the nearest cardiologist and get yourself evaluated. Wish you all a very happy, cold and healthy winter season. Thank you.