ABSTRACT
STATISTICS Mortality rates for older people increase during winter months. ➤ Approximately 40 000 excess winter deaths occur in England and Wales each year. ➤ Majority of these are attributed to vascular (myocardial infarction/stroke) and ➤ respiratory causes. Cold weather induces haemoconcentration, which predisposes to thrombogenesis ➤ and impairs the body’s responses to infection. Hypothermia is the certifi ed cause of death in only around 300 cases per annum ➤ (and so more likely to be a secondary event).
