#Swimming - You might think twice about that dip at the Forty Foot after new research identified a link between swimming in cold water and an increased risk of strokes.
Finnish news website YLE reports on the study by Chinese scientists who followed the habits of 900 members of a winter swimming club over a 30-year period.
And their results indicate a 10% higher risk of heart attacks ad strokes among the swimmers compared to the general population.
"This [study] emphasises the ill-effects of cold, which are well-known," said Prof Hannu Rintamäki of the Finnish Institute for Occupational Health. "Longer-term exposure to cold brings these kinds of results, ie that heart and circulation becomes heavier in cold water."
YLE has more on the story HERE.