In recent years, the word “sudden death” has frequently entered the public eye. It is especially distressing that there are many young people who are in their prime among the sudden deaths. Why do seemingly healthy people die suddenly? Who is easy to find for sudden death? How can tragedies be prevented? Recently, this reporter interviewed Professor Zhao Bin, the chief physician of the emergency department of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, to explain how to face the invisible killer of “sudden death”.
Reporter: How is “sudden death” defined in medicine? What causes sudden death?
Zhao Bin: The medical definition of sudden death is very clear: a normally healthy or seemingly healthy patient, Sudden death due to natural disease.
This definition emphasizes 3 points: a normally healthy person, a short period of time, and a natural disease. What is normal health? That is, before the sudden death, the patient was not found to have fatal diseases and symptoms, and was even considered a healthy person. What is a short time? In terms of the time of sudden death, it can be calculated in minutes or hours. There is no clear quantitative standard. Among the causes of sudden death, sudden death caused by cardiac causes is usually within 1 hour, and non-cardiac sudden death can be calculated within 24 hours. within hours. What is a natural disease? Diseases that lead to sudden death of patients are only related to internal factors of the body, and do not involve drowning, electric shock, hanging, poisoning and other external factors that are clearly involved. Before sudden cardiac death, patients may experience symptoms such as chest pain, chest tightness, dizziness, dyspnea, and arrhythmia, followed by cardiac arrest, disappearance of blood pressure, pulse, and heart sounds, loss of consciousness, and dilated pupils.
The common causes of sudden death are heart problems, respiratory problems and cerebrovascular problems, and heart problems are the most common, the time from onset to death Also the fastest. Therefore, sudden death can be divided into sudden cardiac death and non-cardiac sudden death. For sudden death in children, the possibility of respiratory suffocation is relatively high; the rupture of congenital cerebral vascular malformation may also lead to sudden death.
Generally speaking, the golden rescue time for sudden cardiac death is only 4-6 minutes. There is a chance to avoid death; if the timing of treatment is missed without proper first aid, the patient may die quickly.
Reporter: What abnormalities may occur in the body before sudden death? At this point, how should the patient seek help?
Zhao Bin: Sudden death is unpredictable, and it is indeed unavoidable. For example, some congenital vascular malformations are difficult to detect without inspection. Such patients, once the blood vessel ruptures, will suffer sudden death without timely diagnosis and treatment.
Sudden cardiac death is the main cause of sudden death. Among the sudden cardiac death, coronary heart disease is the most common. Patients often have chest pain when coronary heart disease occurs, and if they have heart failure, they will have difficulty breathing. Some patients have no obvious abnormality before sudden death, and some patients have some atypical symptoms, such as stomach pain, back pain, toothache, palpitations, chest tightness, headache, dizziness, vomiting, etc., but these cannot be confirmed before sudden death. symptoms.
In order to be cautious, when the above symptoms occur, especially in patients with metabolic syndrome or high-risk groups with a family history of coronary heart disease, it is still tens of millions of people. Don’t take it lightly, be sure to call the people around you or dial 120 for immediate medical attention to rule out heart problems in time.
Reporter: What are the causes of sudden death? How can ordinary people prevent it?
Zhao Bin: The possible causes of sudden death, especially sudden cardiac death are: overwork, staying up late, overeating, smoking a lot, drinking alcohol, emotional Big ups and downs, too little sleep, etc. Irregular life, unhealthy diet, extreme lack of sleep, inability to regulate emotions, lack of physical examinations, inactivity all day long, and indifference to minor illnesses may all damage people’s cardiovascular and cerebrovascular functions. Sudden death may occur.
The measures for ordinary people to prevent sudden death are very clear, that is, to get rid of the above bad habits, in diet, sleep, emotional management, exercise, regular Develop good habits in physical examination and other aspects. Even if sudden death cannot be completely avoided, the chance of sudden death can be reduced.
Reporter: In recent years, there have been some news of sudden death of young people. According to your observation, has the risk of sudden death of young people increased? What advice do you have for young people?
Zhao Bin: With the change of people’s lifestyle, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are showing a trend of getting younger and younger. In recent years, in the emergency room where I work, I often see young people suffering from undeserved diseases, such as myocardial infarction, diabetic ketoacidosis, acute cerebrovascular disease, severe pancreatitis, etc., all of which are related to sudden death. Some patients are out of danger, and some patients miss the rescue opportunity and lose their lives.
We all know that young people’s bodies have good compensatory ability and self-healing ability, but the body is not a machine after all. If you don’t respect it and love it, it will give you color. Health is the foundation of everything. Without health, youth, career, and money are nothing. Here, I advise young people to protect their health first if they want to achieve their careers.
(Source: People’s Daily Overseas Edition)