Last night, there were two patients with myocardial infarction, one was 38 years old and the other was 36 years old.
Why are myocardial infarctions increasing in young adults? What can we do to prevent myocardial infarction in young people?
Let’s take a brief look at these two cases first:
Case 1:
38-year-old male, at 1:00 am, Mr. Zhou just lay down (drinking from outside before coming home), he felt tightness in his chest and suffocated, he didn’t take it seriously at first , rolled over and opened the window to let in some air. But the symptoms of chest tightness and suffocation did not relieve. I thought it was because I drank too much, and then sat on the sofa for half an hour, but the chest tightness and suffocation became more and more heavy, and at the same time, I felt that my forehead was covered in cold sweat, and my head was dizzy. Only then did I realize that “it was going to be bad”, and quickly asked my family to call 120.
After arriving at 120, the electrocardiogram indicated: acute anterior septal myocardial infarction, heart rate 110 beats/min. Blood pressure was measured at 160/100mmHg, and nitroglycerin was given intravenously to reduce blood pressure and dilate blood vessels immediately. At the same time, aspirin 300mg and ticagrelor 180mg were given orally for antiplatelet aggregation.
While carrying Mr. Zhou into the 120 car, he contacted the chest pain center and asked the hospital to prepare for rescue.
On admission angiography found that the left posterior blood vessel of Mr. Zhou’s heart, that is, the circumflex branch, was blocked, the guide wire was passed, the balloon was expanded, the stent was implanted, the blood flow was restored, and the patient’s symptoms were gradually relieved. The patient returns to the intensive care unit.
Later blood test reported that Mr. Zhou’s blood sugar was 14.5mmol/L, LDL cholesterol was 4.5mmol/L, and triglyceride was 5.5mmol/L.
Mr. Zhou usually likes to go out for a few drinks. Naturally, he cannot do without cigarettes. He is overweight, never active, and often goes to bed after 12 o’clock.
Case 2:
Mr. Liu, 36, woke up at 5:00 a.m. with chest pain and pain in his sleep. He was sweating profusely. He didn’t delay for a minute. He immediately called his family to call 120.
After arriving at 120, the blood pressure was measured at 90/50mmHg. The electrocardiogram showed acute inferior myocardial infarction, and the heart rate was 44 beats/min. Immediately given blood pressure, rehydration therapy, and oral aspirin 300mg, ticagrelor 180mg.
Start the catheterization lab and directly send the patient into the catheterization lab for angiography. The angiography found that the opening of the blood vessel on the right side of the patient’s heart was blocked, the guide wire was passed, the balloon was expanded, and the stent was implanted. The blood flow was restored, the patient’s symptoms were gradually relieved, and the patient was sent back to the intensive care unit.
Subsequent blood test reported that Mr. Liu’s blood sugar was 11.5mmol/L, LDL cholesterol was 4.7mmol/L, and triglyceride was 5.0mmol/L.
Mr. Liu usually smokes 1 pack a day, is overweight, never exercises, and never controls his diet.
We found that there are many things in common without these two myocardial infarction patients under the age of 40:
Low cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, obesity, no exercise, and smoking.
These are actually the main factors for myocardial infarction in young people, so the more of these factors, the more likely to have myocardial infarction:
1, smoking and drinking, 2, eating and drinking, 3, sedentary, 4, overweight and obese, 5, staying up late and stressful, 6, high blood pressure, 7, Diabetes, 8, hyperlipidemia.
We understand these 8 main factors, so to prevent myocardial infarction, or to avoid myocardial infarction before the age of 40, we must start with these 8 points:
1. Smoking and drinking
16.7% of smokers aged 25-44, smoking can double the risk of coronary heart disease, double the risk of sudden cardiac death, and shorten life expectancy by about 10 years.
Long-term smoking will aggravate atherosclerosis and increase vascular plaques. Heavy smoking can also induce plaque rupture, thrombosis, and myocardial infarction.
Study finds that quitting smoking before age 40 reduces the risk of smoking-related death by 90%.
If smoking is harmful to health, everyone has agreed (although most people who smoke also know this truth, but they still can’t quit.). However, drinking alcohol is currently considered by many people to be harmless, or even beneficial. In fact, a large number of studies have confirmed that drinking alcohol, especially overeating, does not bring health benefits. On the contrary, drinking alcohol can increase blood pressure, increase heart rate, increase blood lipids, and aggravate atherosclerosis.
The two young men both smoked and one of them drank heavily.
2. Hu eats the sea and drinks
Actually, it is not as simple as eating and drinking all day long.
Long-term unhealthy diet, excessive oil, salt and sugar, like fatty, fried foods, too much refined grains; coupled with insufficient intake of vegetables and fruits, etc. These are all unhealthy diets.
Healthy diet is to limit red meat such as fried food, fatty food, offal food, obesity, pork, beef and mutton; control salt and eat less desserts, carbonated drinks, etc.; At the same time, reduce the refined grains such as steamed bread and rice, and add some coarse grains such as corn, millet, beans, and potatoes. Make sure that there are vegetables in every meal, fruits every day, and fish and chicken as the main meat, and appropriate supplements of dairy products and nuts.
Such a diet is a healthy diet and is conducive to preventing cardiovascular disease.
3. Sedentary
Sitting and inactivity for a long time, the simplest reason is that blood circulation slows down, and in the long run, it will increase the risk of three highs and cardiovascular disease.
Studies have found that sitting for too long is no less harmful than diabetes, so we’ve always encouraged exercise. These two patients never exercised at ordinary times, which caused them to have three highs, obesity, and eventually myocardial infarction.
4. Overweight and obesity
The reason why both of them are fat is actually very simple, that is, eating “well” and not exercising. If you think about eating and not exercising and unable to consume, then it will naturally turn into fat and accumulate in the body.
We can see the fat, we can see the belly, but we can’t see the inside of the blood vessels. Fatty meat is caused by eating too much, too oily, too sweet, too salty, and not exercising. Then, in the blood vessels that we can’t see, there will actually be “vascular waste”, that is, blood vessel plaques, which is the “fat” in the blood vessels.
5. Staying up late is stressful
One of the main causes of sudden death or myocardial infarction in young and middle-aged people is staying up late and/or being stressed.
Young people are actively or passively unable to sleep or work in the middle of the night, resulting in decreased immunity, increased risk of three high-risk diseases, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. At the same time, many people have heavy tasks, work hard, work overtime, and various pressures, which will also increase the risk of myocardial infarction.
6. Hypertension
Mr. Zhou has high blood pressure, which is clear; whether Mr. Liu has high blood pressure, we do not know, you must say that it was not low blood pressure when he was admitted to the hospital? This is because Mr. Liu suffered from acute inferior wall myocardial infarction, which can lead to hypotension, so we cannot judge whether Mr. Liu usually has high blood pressure (the key is that he has never measured his blood pressure).
Long-term high blood pressure can lead to aggravation of atherosclerosis, eventually aggravating plaques, causing coronary heart disease, sudden high blood pressure, and causing plaque rupture and myocardial infarction.
7. Diabetes
Both patients have high blood sugar, and in addition to the possibility of stress, it is highly suspected that they have diabetes. Long-term diabetes can lead to inflammation of the lining of blood vessels, and the result of inflammation is plaque, which eventually leads to narrowing of blood vessels, leading to coronary heart disease, and even myocardial infarction.
8. Hyperlipidemia
Both had high levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Long-term hyperlipidemia will increase “vascular waste”, which is the accumulation of lipid-like substances on the inner wall of blood vessels, which will form plaques. When the plaque increases, the blood vessel narrows, the plaque ruptures and a blood clot forms, and the blood clot forms a myocardial infarction.
In short, there are no unprovoked myocardial infarctions, most of which are caused by our own unhealthy habits and attitudes that despise the three highs.
So let’s check with ourselves to see if there are any of the above 8 points. If so, we must pay attention, otherwise the risk of myocardial infarction will increase significantly. To prevent myocardial infarction before the age of 40, we must start from these 8 points!