Blood Pressure and the North of Russia

In Siberia, there is a common belief relating to the effects of living in such a cold, northerly environment on people's blood pressure.

Nine months of this can't be good for you, can it?

The theory is that this part of the world has an atmosphere with less oxygen and different, or more changeable, air pressure so it has a negative impact overall. There seems to be something in this as the Russian government have laws, dating back to Soviet times, involving coefficients for living in harsher climes, so someone in a particularly cold area might get a basic salary x 1.5 (Surgut), or higher if the conditions are worse, to compensate. There are also extra holiday entitlements and contributions towards travel costs.

A common belief locally was that living in the area for years reduces life expectancy due to less oxygen and problems with blood pressure. Some people believed that the body changed after about 5 years of living there and that these changes would become permanent. This meant that it was then difficult to leave this kind of climate, often mentioned in relation to retiring, and a few people told stories of people retiring from Surgut and moving to the warm south, where they had fatal heart attacks within 6 months.

I can't really deny the general day-to-day effects of the weather on the body in Surgut, but was unsure of the long-term repercussions, having found nothing in the Internet. I consulted a doctor back in Britain and he was intrigued. He'd never heard of such effects and, at his request, I promised to update him if I ever got any proof of them, especially from scientific or medical journals.

If you know more, comment below. I'd also appreciate it, especially if you've got links to any scientific sources. Cheers.