Heart is the only organ that cannot rest for a moment. It works day and night since human life begins in the mothers embryo.
According to the newly released "2021 China Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report", the incidence and fatality rate of cardiovascular diseases in China still tops the list, with a great number of 330 million patients. Heart disease has always been the "No. 1 killer" threatening human life and health.
Since 1999, the World Heart Federation has decided to hold an annual World Heart Day to raise public awareness of cardiovascular disease.
The theme of this years "World Heart Day" is "One Heart", which aims to enable medical staff, cardiovascular patients and the general public to work together to promote the development of cardiovascular health and the process of cardiovascular health for all people, and usher in the "inflection point" of cardiovascular disease and death as soon as possible, and contribute to the realization of "healthy China"!
On this special day, Shu Yue, deputy chief physician of Geriatric Multidisciplinary Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Hainan Chengmei Hospital, will talk with you about "heart".
Learn about 3 common heart diseases
Shu Yue said that heart disease can be divided into two categories according to the pathogenic factors: congenital and acquired, of which coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, heart failure are three more common acquired heart diseases.
Coronary artery disease is a heart disease caused by narrowing or occlusion of the lumen of the blood vessels due to atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, resulting in ischemia, hypoxia or necrosis of the heart muscle.
The World Health Organization(WHO) classifies coronary heart disease into 5 major categories: asymptomatic myocardial ischemia (occult coronary heart disease), angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and sudden death.
Clinically, the typical symptoms of angina pectoris are pain in the middle and lower sternum or the precardiac area, with a sense of pressure or contraction, which can radiate to the left shoulder, often after labor activities, emotional excitement, full eating, cold, smoking, constipation, each lasting 3 to 5 minutes, generally not more than 30 minutes, which could be relived through rest or nitroglycerin, if continued not relieved, it is needed to consider the possibility of a myocardial infarction. It should be noted that the cold weather in winter is very easy to induce the attack of angina pectoris.
The heart rate of a normal person is 60 to 100 beats per minute. When there is an abnormality in the frequency, rhythm, location of origin, conduction speed, or sequence of cardiac impulses, it is called arrhythmia, which mainly includes tachycardia, bradycardia, premature beat, escape beat, fibrillation, flutter, etc., which can be manifested as panic, chest tightness, dizziness, missed beat and other discomforts. In terms of treatment, etiological treatment, drug treatment and non-drug treatment are mainly used.
Heart failure (CHF) is a syndrome caused by various structural or functional diseases of the heart resulting in ventricular filling and/or impaired ejection ability. For almost all types of heart and large vascular diseases (such as coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, hypertension, hyperthyroidism cardiomyopathy, etc.), if not being treated and controlled timely and effectively, can cause heart failure. It is the severe and terminal stage of cardiovascular disease with high disability rate and fatality rate. With the increase of population aging, the prevalence of heart failure is also increasing year by year, and it is becoming an important public health problem in the world. Therefore, cardiovascular diseases must be prevented and treated as soon as possible.
How to prevent heart disease
Shu Yue said that keeping seven good habits in life can effectively prevent the occurrence of heart disease and is conducive to heart health.
1. Take more exercises. For most people, it is recommended to exercise at least 5 days a week, 30 minutes a day, to jogging, walking, cycling and taking other aerobic exercise, the elderly may as well do some Tai Chi.
2. Sit less. Sitting for a long time will cause systemic arterial function decline and obesity, so that fat accumulation, coupled with often drink strong tea, coffee or alcohol and other stimulant drinks, will increase the burden of our heart
3. Quit smoking and drinking. The incidence of cardiovascular disease in smokers is 2-3 times that of non-smokers, and the greater the amount of alcohol consumed, the greater the risk of hypertension
4. Eat less meat. In particular, processed meats, such as sausages, bacon, hot dogs, ham and other red meat products, contain more sodium, nitrate, phosphate, etc., if it is smoked, barbecue meat, it will also contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which is not good for heart health
5. Eat more vegetables. Eat more fruits, vegetables and grains, vegetables such as spinach, leeks, celery, etc, are rich in vitamins and fiber, which could help reduce the bodys absorption of cholesterol; carrots, tomatoes are rich in carotene, helping alleviate arteriosclerosis. We should also eat more grains , including whole wheat flour, oats, brown rice, barley, buckwheat, etc. in our daily life.
6. Eat a light diet. Long-term high salt diet may cause cardiovascular disease. Cook with less salt and soy sauce, try to use spices or other natural flavoring instead, such as garlic, ginger, lemongrass, etc., it is recommended that the total intake of salt throughout the day is less than or equal to 5 grams
7. Get regular physical examination. It is recommended for people with a family history of heart disease, and those over 50 to have a physical examination annually.
Hainan Chengmei Hospital has set a Multidisciplinary Geriatric Diagnosis and Treatment Center. They broke the single-disease diagnosis and treatment mode, adopted the service concept of comorbity management and multi-drug management as the core and the multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment mode, and formed a "one-stop" diagnosis and treatment system for chronic cardiovascular disease management, treatment and functional maintenance in the elderly, and comprehensively promote comprehensive evaluation of cardiovascular diseases and standardized diagnosis and treatment services.
Introduction of the expert
Shu Yue
Deputy Chief Physician
She has been studying post-operative cardiac ICU at Cardiovascular Hospital(National Cardiovascular Center) of Fuwai Hospital, focusing on perioperative cardiac surgery management for more than 10 years, and is skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of post-operative complications and cardiovascular emergencies in various adult cardiovascular diseases; she is skilled in using hemodynamic monitoring equipment, IABP, ventilator for organ function support and replacement therapy; later she studied cardiac rehabilitation at Beijing University Third Hospital, she is specialized in cardiopulmonary endurance assessment, prescribing exercise for patients, medication guiding, nutritional support, sleep management and other measures to accelerate patients’ recovery.
National member of Perioperative Branch of Cardiovascular Surgery, Chinese Society of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia
Member of the fourth Youth Committee of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Professional Committee of Hainan Medical Association
Member of the second Professional Committee of Brain and Heart Co-treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine Integrating Association of Hainan Province
Member of Anti-aging Group of the 5th Committee of Health Management Branch of Chinese Medical Association
The text was collected by publicity section