Comprehensive methods of preventing heart disease

First of all, let me tell you a heart-warming conclusion: 90% of common heart diseases (including coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, etc.) are preventable. The core logic is "full protection of controllable risk factors, early screening and early intervention of uncontrollable risks." There is no need to be superstitious about sky-high price heart-protecting health care products, and there is no need to engage in extreme diet and exercise. Ordinary people can reduce the risk of disease by more than 70% by following evidence-based plans.

Don’t believe it, last week I just received a 32-year-old Internet operator from the outpatient clinic. He stayed up late for three days to catch up on the project, drank cup after cup of iced Coke, and ate takeaways at noon. Suddenly his chest became tight and out of breath. I called 120 to come over for an imaging test. It was found that 60% of the anterior descending artery had been blocked. If he came in half a day late, he might have had a heart attack. He said that there was nothing wrong with his annual physical examination except for high blood lipids, and he never felt uncomfortable with his heart. Little did he know that the hidden dangers had long been buried.

Speaking of this, someone must ask, should you buy the highly hyped heart-protecting health products such as Coenzyme Q10 and deep-sea fish oil? There are indeed many opinions on this topic: Studies in the sports medicine community have confirmed that additional supplementation of Coenzyme Q10 in healthy people can alleviate heart fatigue after high-intensity exercise to a certain extent. However, the current global evidence-based medicine guidelines do not recommend that healthy people rely on Coenzyme Q10 supplementation to reduce the incidence of heart disease. Instead, it is for people who have been taking statin lipid-lowering drugs for a long time. Because the drugs may affect the synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 in the body, doctors generally recommend appropriate supplementation. As for deep-sea fish oil, if you can eat palm-sized deep-sea fish (salmon, mackerel, and croaker included) twice a week, there is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on purified health products. If you can’t eat fish all year round, supplementing with Omega 3 with a purity of more than 85% will indeed help lower triglycerides. Anything below this concentration will basically pay an IQ tax.

Instead of spending money on health care products, it is better to understand what is in your mouth first. Don’t listen to the online saying that to protect your heart, you need to go vegan. I met a 38-year-old lady a while ago. She went vegan for two years to protect her heart. As a result, she recently started to feel flustered when walking. Her homocysteine ​​level was three times higher than normal in blood tests. This is caused by long-term lack of B12 and folic acid, which will increase cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risks. There are indeed two factions of controversy in the diet circle: one advocates that an all-plant diet can lower cholesterol levels, while the other believes that completely rejecting animal foods will lead to nutritional imbalances. Judging from clinical experience, there is really no need to go to extremes. Limit salt to less than 5g per day (about the amount of a beer bottle cap, remember to include invisible sodium in takeout sauce, bread, and processed meat). Drink less sugary drinks, do not consume red meat more than three times a week, and eat more dark green vegetables and whole grains. It is more reliable than any extreme diet.

If you eat right, it will be in vain if you move wrong. A marathon runner came to me for consultation before and said that he ran 10 kilometers three times a week. How come my physical examination still revealed myocardial ischemia? Later, upon examination, it was discovered that he had a congenital myocardial bridge. He usually had no symptoms, but high-intensity exercise would squeeze the coronary arteries and cause insufficient blood supply. Nowadays, opinions about exercise are also polarized: some people say that you need to run 5 kilometers a day to protect your heart, while others say that excessive exercise can harm your heart. In fact, the truth is very simple: healthy people only need to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week. What is moderate-intensity? I can talk normally when walking fast or jogging, but I can't sing a song continuously. This strength is just right. If you have high blood pressure, high blood lipids, or a family history of heart disease, it’s best to do a treadmill exercise test to assess the risk before exercising. Don’t rush in blindly, and don’t sit on the sofa and check your phone every day. People who exercise less than 1 hour a week for more than 6 months are 2.3 times more likely to develop plaques in their blood vessels than people who exercise regularly. This data is not deceiving.

Oh, by the way, there is another point that many people ignore: the impact of emotions and sleep on the heart is much greater than you think. I used to manage a 45-year-old private company owner whose blood lipids and blood pressure were well controlled. He slept 3 hours a day with clients for half a month, but when he woke up he had an acute myocardial infarction and had a stent inserted. There are also people who are usually sulky and keep the smallest things in their mind. Western medicine calls them long-term sympathetic nerve excitement, and their blood pressure and heart rate are always high. Chinese medicine calls them liver-qi stagnation. Over time, blood vessel damage is much faster than that of ordinary people. There are also different opinions on emotional regulation: one group says that you should let your anger out and don't hold it in, while the other group says that sudden anger will cause your heart rate to soar in a short period of time and induce a myocardial infarction. In fact, you don't have to worry about which one is right, just find a way to relax yourself. Whether it is fishing, gardening or square dancing, any adjustment method will work if you don't let others vent your anger.

Finally, don’t think that you don’t need screening because you are young. Now the age of onset of coronary heart disease has dropped to the 20s. If your parents or brothers had a myocardial infarction before the age of 50, then you should have your blood lipids, electrocardiogram and carotid artery ultrasound checked every year when you are 30. If you usually get breathless after climbing the third floor, or feel chest tightness, toothache or shoulder pain when you are tired, don’t hold on and go to the cardiology department for a checkup. If you wait until a myocardial infarction occurs before going to the hospital, it may be too late.

In fact, protecting the heart has never been a KPI that needs to be implemented deliberately. To put it bluntly, it means eating well, sleeping well, don’t compete with yourself, and have regular physical examinations. It is more effective than any sky-high price miracle drug. If you are really unsure, ask a professional cardiologist. Don’t blindly believe in folk remedies on the Internet, which are better than anything else.