How turning the heat off this winter could damage your health

theguardian.com:

Keeping the heating turned off is one surefire way of reducing gas and electricity bills this winter, but it could come at the expense of people’s health – particularly those with heart and lung conditions.

According to a survey of more than 2,000 UK adults, 23% are planning to do without heating this winter, while about 70% said they planned to turn their heating on less. Yet each centigrade degree reduction below 18C in Britain has been calculated to correspond with an extra 3,500 deaths. Here are the main ways in which cold homes can contribute to worse health.

Low temperatures cause blood vessels to narrow, putting stress on the circulatory system. “[This] can lead to cardiovascular effects, including ischaemic heart disease (IHD), coronary heart disease, strokes, subarachnoid haemorrhage and death,” according to the World Health Organization’s housing and health guidelines.

A review of the impact of cold homes on health from the UCL Institute of Health Equity and Public Health England, published in 2014, also highlighted the problem, pointing to data that suggested deaths from cardiovascular disease in England were higher in winterthan the average for other times for the year.

Circulatory problems tend to kick in once temperatures fall below about 12C. “[This] results in raised blood pressure, caused by the narrowing of blood vessels, which can lead to increases in blood thickness as fluid is lost from circulation,” the report says. “Increased blood pressure, and increased blood viscosity, can increase the risk of strokes and heart attacks.”

Cold air also affects the function of the respiratory tract, with problems starting once the temperature drops below about 16C (61F). Those with existing respiratory conditions, such