It’s starting to look rather a lot like Christmas. Sure, it’s that point of 12 months when preparations start for the arrival of that favorite festive customer: Santa Claus.
Ask nearly anybody to explain Santa they usually’re more likely to provide an identical image: a portly, jolly wanting man with white beard, glasses and rosy cheeks. However, whereas his look could also be synonymous with the season of goodwill, it doesn’t counsel Santa’s in the most effective of well being.
Relying on his portrayal in your favorite festive movie, Santa stands anyplace between 5’6″ to six’6″ tall and weighs between 80kgs-136kgs. No matter Santa’s very important statistics, although, it’s probably he’s chubby or overweight. Sadly, he appears to hold most of this weight round his center.
A few of this physique fats will preserve him insulated – necessary given how a lot time he spends outside on his sleigh – and cushion his inside organs. However, when an excessive amount of fats sits across the stomach organs, such because the abdomen, the small and huge intestines, the liver and the kidneys, it may be dangerous to well being.
So, maybe these of us who depart refreshments for Santa on Christmas Eve may think about providing some more healthy alternate options to the standard mince pies and cookies. A weight loss plan of such excessive fats, excessive sugar snacks will increase the chance of growing weight problems and power situations reminiscent of coronary heart illness, stroke, sort 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and colorectal most cancers.
Drink and be ruddy
Santa’s flushed complexion is commonly considered as a sign of his cheery nature –however pink cheeks may also be a symptom of rosacea, a power pores and skin situation.
From consuming all of the sherry and beer left for him to carrying heavy a great deal of presents, to windburn from flying by way of the air on his sleigh, Santa’s life-style appears to incorporate lots of issues that may exacerbate rosacea.
Santa lives in a chilly local weather within the Arctic circle, and spends lengthy durations of time on his sleigh travelling within the stratosphere, the place temperatures can get as little as -80°C. It additionally exposes him to excessive ranges of UV radiation – even at the hours of darkness. Lifetime UV publicity is a major environmental issue related to growing rosacea.
Santa’s beard and conventional fur-lined outfit, then, aren’t sufficient to guard his face from the weather – he ought to be utilizing solar block and carrying a shawl over his face, in addition to goggles – to minimise the harm brought on by his Christmas Eve supply duties.
As for the consuming, Santa’s ruddy cheeks is also the results of alcohol flush syndrome. That is triggered by the physique’s intolerance to alcohol, and impacts 8% of the final inhabitants. Alcohol sensitivity can point out an elevated threat of hypertension and a few cancers, so he ought to keep away from – or no less than restrict – his alcohol consumption.
Even when Santa doesn’t have an intolerance to alcohol, he’s nonetheless at excessive threat for alcohol poisoning and alcohol associated liver illness (ARLD).
Simply 12 items of alcohol are sufficient to trigger alcohol poisoning. Most individuals would attain this stage after 4 or 5 pints, particularly in the event that they’re consuming rapidly.
As for ALRD, this situation comes from years of excessive alcohol consumption. It develops when the liver is subjected to extra alcohol than it will probably course of, inflicting poisonous metabolites to kill the liver cells. Santa’s liver might properly present the hallmarks of the situation, together with fats deposits, irritation and scar tissue.
In fact, Santa should even be cautious about working a sleigh beneath the affect. After simply a few drinks, Santa’s blood alcohol content material (BAC) would exceed the protected suggestion for working an plane – a stage equal to 0.2 grams of blood alcohol focus, which is 0.2% in BAC phrases. Santa’s BAC is extra more likely to be 0.40%, a medically harmful stage – and perhaps even greater than 0.54%, the best ever recorded non-fatal BAC.
Child, it’s chilly outdoors
The excellent news is that analysis reveals that chubby alcohol drinkers are much less more likely to undergo from cold-induced accidents.
In spite of everything, publicity to excessive chilly temperatures put Santa at important threat of frostbite. Spending only a few minutes in these temperatures is sufficient to slim the blood vessels in Santa’s extremities. Even carrying gloves is probably not enough to stop ice crystals forming in his blood at -4°C or beneath. At this level, Santa might expertise tissue harm, and amputation of the affected physique components could also be required.
If Santa doesn’t really feel the chilly, which might clarify the photographs of his delighted expression whereas driving his sleigh in all weathers, then he might have congenital insensitivity to ache, a uncommon genetic dysfunction that stops folks from feeling ache, together with extremes of temperature.
Travelling at excessive pace within the stratosphere, there’s additionally lower than 30% of the standard quantity of oxygen. These situations would rapidly result in hypoxia – low ranges of oxygen within the physique’s tissues – which may trigger confusion, restlessness, elevated coronary heart price and blood stress.
It takes no less than two weeks at altitudes which can be a fraction of the place Santa operates for blood to extend its oxygen-carrying capability. Hypoxia coupled with alcohol is a recipe for a well being catastrophe. Santa’s cardiovascular system can be beneath extreme pressure and he might expertise a decline in cognitive operate.
Caught up the chimney
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Squeezing into soot-filled chimneys can be a major well being hazard for Santa. Research have proven that extended publicity to lots of the particulates present in chimneys will increase the chance of assorted cancers. Carbon particulates can get trapped deep within the lungs, taken up by immune cells and trigger lung ailments.
Publicity to smoke will increase his threat of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Publicity to soot additionally places Santa prone to growing most cancers of the scrotum – a most cancers recognized in chimney sweeps in 1775.
With all these potential well being points, it’s a surprise Santa manages to ship presents in any respect.
