Early in the morning, the doctor in the emergency room told Hua Zi that last night, a myocardial infarction patient in his 40s had been rescued for more than 3 hours, but he was finally unable to recover. The doctor shook his head and sighed, it’s a pity to be so young.
The patient’s family said the patient had frequent angina pectoris more than two years ago. When I went to the hospital for examination, it was found that there was a severe stenosis in the coronary artery, and the symptoms were relieved after the heart stent operation. The reason why he suffered from coronary heart disease at such a young age is because he usually smokes, and his diet is heavy in oil and salt.
After the operation, the doctor warned him that heart stents cannot solve the problem once and for all, and there may be restenosis or even infarction. He must take medicine on time in the future. Maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat and salt.
In the six months after the operation, he still listened to the doctor’s advice, quit smoking, ate less meat, and kept exercising as much as he could. But after a long time, I can’t stand this kind of light life. In addition, there have been no symptoms, so I gradually relaxed, started smoking again, and returned to meat-based diet.
The family talked about him many times and even quarreled with him, but they were worried that his heart was not good, and they dared not quarrel too much. So he went his own way, no matter what his family said, he should smoke and eat until this time…
One, a heart stent replaces one danger with another
The cause of coronary heart disease is due to coronary stenosis, which prevents the myocardium from getting enough blood and oxygen supply, causing symptoms such as chest tightness, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. But there is no problem with the heart muscle itself, so as long as the coronary stenosis is solved, various heart disease symptoms will disappear.
Therefore, many coronary heart disease patients think that a heart stent can completely solve the problem. But that’s not the case. Heart stents just replace the higher, uncontrollable risk of coronary heart disease with a lower, controllable risk. If you do not pay attention to protecting the cardiovascular system after cardiac stenting, stenosis or even myocardial infarction may occur again.
Second, coronary heart disease cannot be cured once it occurs
The cause of coronary heart disease is that under risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, aging, obesity and other risk factors, the intima of the coronary arteries is damaged, resulting in low levels of blood in the blood. Density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) enters the intima of arteries and forms atherosclerotic plaques.
If risk factors for damage to the arterial intima are not eliminated, the plaque will continue to progress, resulting in narrowing of the arterial lumen. When the degree of stenosis exceeds 50%, it can be diagnosed as coronary heart disease, and there will be obvious symptoms of myocardial ischemia. Moreover, sclerotic plaque may rupture, which will induce platelet aggregation to form thrombus, resulting in myocardial infarction.
LDL-C in sclerotic plaques is deposited in foam cells. With current medical technology, plaque cannot be removed without destroying the arterial intima. While statins can reduce the size of the plaque, they cannot clear the plaque. Therefore, Atherosclerosis cannot be cured once it is formed, and coronary heart disease cannot be reversed once it occurs.
Atherosclerosis of the arteries, usually involving multiple blood vessels at the same time. A heart stent can only solve the problem of one blood vessel, other blood vessels will have potential risks, and the stent itself will also produce foreign body stimulation, and restenosis may occur in the stent. So even if you have a heart stent, you still need to adhere to a healthy life and take medicine regularly.
Three, healthy lifestyle and medication adherence to reduce risk
People with coronary heart disease, with or without a heart stent, need a healthy lifestyle. Be sure to stay away from tobacco and alcohol; limit salt (3-5 grams), fat (less than 25 grams), and added sugars (less than 50 grams) in your diet every day. You can eat a small amount of lean meat, fish, and more vegetables, Fruit; exercise as much as you can for 30 minutes a day, but don’t overwork yourself.
The drug treatment of coronary heart disease is very important, and it is necessary to adhere to the medication to control the “three highs” and avoid disease progression. The core drugs are statins and antiplatelet drugs represented by aspirin, which requires long-term adherence and can greatly reduce the incidence of myocardial infarction.
In daily life, learn to control your emotions and avoid large-scale emotional fluctuations such as anger and ecstasy. Be careful to avoid over-fatigue, over-eating, and don’t exert force suddenly. When the temperature changes, you should pay attention to changing clothes in time to avoid catching a cold.
To sum up, for people with coronary heart disease, heart stents cannot solve the problem once and for all. The stent only temporarily relieves the symptoms, but the disease cannot be completely cured. Regular medication and a healthy lifestyle are still required to effectively prevent the recurrence of the disease. The specific medication needs to be taken under the guidance of a doctor. If you have any doubts about the medication, please consult your doctor or pharmacist. I am Huazi, a pharmacist. Welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.