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Heart Rate and Snow —Belcher et al.
EFFECTS THAT SNOW HAS ON HEART RATE OF THE HUMAN BODY
Naomi. Belcher1, Miranda McCormick, Rebekah O’Bryan
Life Science Academy, Owensboro Community and Technical College, Owensboro KY, 42301
ABSTRACT
Temperatures outside the human body affect many organs within it, the heart being one of them.
Some people are concerned about being out in cold temperatures and what effect it has on the
human body. We formed an experiment to determine whether cold temperatures had an effect on
heart rate, compared to room temperature. Our results produced evidence of increased heart rate
from the cold temperature, however we only performed one trial; so results could be inaccurate.
More research is necessary to determine if cold temperatures do indeed overwork the heart
enough to cause heart attacks or lead to short term/long term heart problems.
KEY WORDS: heart rate, cold temperatures, room temperature, Logger Pro®
INTRODUCTION
Heart rate is the speed of the heartbeat measured by the number of poundings of the heart
per unit of time. Heart rate is measured by beats per minute (BPM). Heart rate varies due to the
body’s physical needs; the need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide. The normal
1
Corresponding author email: [email protected]
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resting heart rate is 40 to 100 beats a minute. The National Registry of Myocardial Infarction
recorded that there were 53% more cases of heart attacks in the winter than in the summer
(O’Connor 2012). Angina is caused when the heart’s workload exceeds the ability of the
coronary arteries to supply an adequate amount of blood to the heart (Warnica 2013). During the
winter the heart is constantly working twice as hard as normal: to supply blood to the rest of the
body and to help the body maintain homeostasis.
Due to the frightening increase in heart problems during winter months, many people are
wondering whether it is a fact or myth that the cold temperatures cause these problems. There is
evidence that cold temperatures can increase heart rate. In room temperature, heart rate is at a
normal rate of 40-100. In colder temperatures, the heart rate increases in order to maintain the
body’s regular temperature of 98.6°F.
When outside in the snow, it is shown that most people tend to being shoveling snow,
which can lead to heart attack. Due to the heart maintain homeostasis and pumping extra
amounts of blood to the body from the exertion of energy of shoveling snow; the heart will
majorly overwork itself, causing heart attack to occur. Our objective was to determine if sitting
our hands in snow and recording the data would show whether or not cold temperatures can
cause heart attack or just an increased heart rate. We hypothesized that post cold hands would
result in an increase in female 1 and 2’s heart rates by at least 5 BPM.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The materials used included a laptop with Vernier Logger Pro® software, Vernier LabQuest
Mini® accompanied with a USB cable, and a Vernier Heart Rate monitor. Also, access to snow
was required. Out of our group two females participated in the experiment. Each female, referred
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to throughout as female 1 and female 2, received a reading of their resting heart rate for 1
minute, using the Logger Pro® Heart Rate program.
Each female held the hand grip heart rate monitors while sitting in a chair. After clicking
the green “collect” arrow in the data collection toolbar on the computer screen, the heart
monitors took their resting heart rate. We saved each reading in Logger Pro® and entered a table
and a graph into an Excel® worksheet.
After determining the resting heart rate of each female, we acquired a bowl of snow.
Each female stuck her hands in the bowl for 30 seconds nonstop. Promptly upon completing the
30 seconds, the heart rate was taken again while sitting using the same process used above. We
only completed both processes once. Saving each reading in Logger Pro® and entered the data
into an Excel® worksheet.
RESULTS
The resting heart rate readings of female 1 and female 2 were considered normal (40-100
BPM) (table 1). The resting heart rate of female 1 was 46, the resting heart rate of female 2 was
76. Both participants were within the normal range (40-100BPM). Both females’ heart rates
increased after digging their hands in the snow. Female 1’s heart rate increased by 28 BPM and
female 2’s heart rate increased by 8 BPM (figure 1).
DISCUSSION
The heart rate of both females increased, when compared to each participant’s resting
heart rate, supporting our hypothesis. However, there was only one trial completed in the
experiment, so results are inconclusive. Based on the data from the two females, heart rate did
increase when the body is exposed to cold temperatures. Female 1’s heart rate increased from 46
BPM to 74 BPM. Female 2’s heart rate increased from 76 BPM to 82 BPM.
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Although readings did support our hypothesis, it is not possible to draw a legitimate
conclusion based on data from only two females. To increase the legitimacy of conclusions
based on this experiment, several precautions could be taken in future experiments. All
electronic devices should be turned off prior to taking reading and males should be tested as
well. If time allows, the experiment should be ongoing for a longer period and should include
more measurements of each individual tested. Also, if possible, the experiment should include a
larger sample size to ensure the effects are repeatable within a larger group.
Due to the number of trials we accomplished, the complete result is still unknown.
Further testing is needed to determine if being exposed to cold conditions increases heart rate.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the Life Science Academy for supplying us with reliable software to
record data, laptops, and probes. We also thank Owensboro Community and Technical College
for providing us with lab space.
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LITERATURE CITED
Temperature and Heart Rate.2014.Live Strong.http://www.livestrong.com/article/323686temperature-and-heart-rate/. Date accessed 3/17/15.
Cold Weather and Cardiovascular Disease. 2015. American Heart Association.
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/General/Cold-Weather-and-CardiovascularDisease_UCM_315615_Article.jsp. Date accessed 3/17/15.
Really? Cold Weather Raises the Risk of Heart Attack. 2012. Well NY Times.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/really-cold-weather-raises-the-risk-of-heartattack/?_r=0. Date accessed 3/17/15.
Extreme Weather and Your Heart. 2014. Seconds Count. http://www.secondscount.org/heartcondition-centers/info-detail-2/snow-shoveling--your-heart#.VQM7co7F-So. Date accessed
3/17/15.
Angina. 2013. The Merck Manual.
http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/heart_and_blood_vessel_disorders/coronary_artery_diseas
e/angina.html. Date accessed 3/17/15.
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Heart Rate vs. Snow
Female 1
Temperature of Snow
31
Temperature of
Body
97
Heart Rate
Before
46
Heart Rate
After
74
BPM Before
46
BPM After
74
Female 2
32
98
76
82
76
82
Table 1. Heart rate of female 1 and 2 before sticking hands in snow and after, temperature of
snow and temperature of the female’s bodies’.
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Figure 1. Line graphs depicting female 1 and 2’s increase in heart rate before and after.
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