Why Winter Poses a Serious Risk to Heart Health
It’s mid-January in Quebec. The temperature has dropped to extreme lows, and the city plow has just passed, leaving a heavy, icy ridge at the end of the driveway. You bundle up, grab a shovel, and get to work.
For most of us, this is just a chore. For cardiologists, it is a danger zone. Research confirms that freezing air constricts blood vessels, while sudden exertion can spike the heart rate to near-sprint levels. Together, they create a perfect storm for a cardiac event.
But if the worst happens, you are not relying on medical care alone. You are supported by an invisible network of neighbors, donors, and community innovators. While the government funds hospital operations, it is often Quebec’s charities that fund the evolution of care, supporting pilot programs and new technologies before public budgets can catch up.
Here is how four donor funded communities are addressing heart health in unexpected ways.
1. The Citizen Response
The most dangerous part of a cardiac arrest in winter is not the condition itself, but time. In a snowstorm, an ambulance may be too far away.
The Jacques-de-Champlain Foundation recognized that the solution was not just more ambulances, but faster access to help. They funded the AED-Quebec App, a mobile tool that turns the province into a connected safety net.
Citizens and businesses register the locations of Automated External Defibrillators in public spaces such as hockey arenas, pharmacies, and office buildings. If someone collapses, a bystander can quickly locate the nearest device. Community participation ensures that help is often closer than emergency services.
2. The Virtual Bridge
Geography can also be a barrier to care. For people in remote regions, seeing a specialist once meant long drives or medical flights during winter conditions.
The MUHC Foundation helped close that gap by funding the Electrophysiology Centre of Excellence and enabling a Canadian first: remote programming of implanted defibrillators. Specialists in Montreal can now securely adjust devices for patients hundreds of kilometers away.
For families in regions like Gaspésie or Northern Quebec, this is a game changer. It reduces travel, lowers stress, and brings specialized care directly to the patient.
3. The Library of 30,000 Neighbors
Heart disease was once treated using averages. Today, that approach is changing.
With support from the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, researchers have built one of the world’s most advanced biobanks, containing genetic and biological data from over 30,000 Quebec volunteers.
By analyzing this data, researchers can better understand how genetics, environment, and stress interact. This work moves medicine from reactive treatment toward prevention tailored to individual biology.
4. Armor for the Vulnerable
Winter illnesses pose serious risks for children born with heart valve defects. Traditional valve implants do not grow with the child, often requiring repeated surgeries.
Through its Grow Beyond campaign, the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation is funding research into 3D bioprinted heart valves made from living cells. These valves have the potential to grow with the child, offering a long-term solution rather than repeated intervention.
This research represents a shift toward permanent care for some of the most vulnerable patients.
When you donate to a hospital foundation, you are not just supporting day-to-day care. You are helping fund the early, innovative work that transforms how heart disease is treated across Quebec, ensuring communities are protected long before emergencies strike.
About the Writer: Kaloyan Krastnikov is a student at the University of Toronto. With a foundation in science and philosophy, he brings an analytical yet human perspective to storytelling. Kaloyan writes where rigorous thought meets lived feeling. With an approach that values clarity as much as curiosity, he transforms ideas about medical innovation and discovery into stories that illuminate, question, and console. In his free time he reads widely, tinkers with small data projects, and escapes into guitar playing and experimental cooking.
Photo Credit: Image by Myriams-Fotos
