Heart disease is a high incidence of disease in the elderly, but it is not exclusive to the elderly, and some types of diseases are no less common in young people than in the elderly. Because the organs of the whole body in young people are in the best condition, the symptoms are not obvious or can be tolerated because of the strong compensatory ability in the early stage of the disease. After a period of time, “small problems” will grind into “big problems”, and even lead to bigger problems, and finally need to pay a greater price.
So, what heart diseases should young people pay special attention to? Zhang Xiaoshen, Director of Cardiovascular Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, sounded the alarm to young people through a real case.
Valve infection caused by atrial defect
Ms. Chen is a young mother. During pregnancy, she suddenly had continuous chills and fever for a period of time. After a period of treatment, the symptoms continued to recur and became more and more The less energy, the more and more breathless, and then went to the First Affiliated Hospital of Ji University for treatment. The examination found that there was a defect in the atrial surface, and at the same time, the mitral valve had severe regurgitation. Her symptoms are due to heart failure caused by an infection of the heart and erosion of the valve.
When the doctor asked about the medical history, Ms. Chen remembered that the doctor had reminded her that there was a heart murmur during the physical examination before, and suggested that she go to the hospital for further examination, but she did not feel any discomfort, so she just let it go. In fact, the heart murmur discovered by the doctor at that time was a defect in the atrium. The medical term is “atrial septal defect”, which belongs to congenital heart disease, and the occurrence of infective endocarditis is likely to be related to this congenital heart malformation. This makes it easy for blood to pool in the heart, thereby infecting the heart. In the end, Ms. Chen recovered after receiving effective surgery and drug treatment, but the valve needed to be replaced due to severe erosion, and the fetus in the abdomen voluntarily gave up the abortion.
Ms. Chen’s case is not a small number. In the early stage of the disease, she did not pay enough attention to the problem. If the “atrial septal defect” was treated early, the subsequent heart infection could be avoided to a great extent, and the valve would not be affected by the disease. eroded by infection.
These heart diseases are more common in young people
Zhang Xiaoshen reminded that some heart diseases are more common in young people. If enough attention is paid to early treatment, the treatment effect is usually very good.
1. Congenital heart disease:
Congenital heart disease accounts for 28% of all congenital malformations, although many congenital heart diseases are treated in infancy or childhood, However, due to regional differences in medical level and the insignificant early symptoms of some diseases, some patients with congenital heart disease still do not know that they have congenital heart disease in adulthood. did not pay attention. However, by the time symptoms of such diseases appear in the later stage, the disease has often developed to the extent that the heart and lungs are severely damaged, and the damage is difficult to fully recover.
2. Heart valve prolapse disease:
The heart has four valves, which open and close to allow blood to flow in one direction at the edge of the heart. When the valve leaflets prolapse, the valves are closed If it is not strict, it will cause valve regurgitation, and part of the blood will not flow forward and flow back into the heart. The heart is gradually overloaded, causing symptoms such as chest tightness, shortness of breath, and lower extremity edema. In the early stage of the disease, valve prolapse has a high chance of being repaired, but in the later stage of the disease, the valve is severely damaged and difficult to repair. It may even be removed and replaced with an artificial valve, which requires lifelong medication. Due to the strong compensatory ability of young people, symptoms may not be obvious in the early stage of the disease, and symptoms often appear when the valve prolapse is more serious.
3. Infective endocarditis:
Bacteria enter the heart with the blood, and stay in the heart to erode the heart tissue, causing heart infection. A relatively large proportion of patients infected with endocarditis already have structural heart diseases, such as the two types of diseases described above. The existence of these diseases makes the patient’s blood with bacteria stay in the heart for a longer time, and the bacteria are more likely to adhere. Causes an infection in the heart. Once infected, there may be many complications and even permanent sequelae. If a patient with existing heart disease has persistent fever, chest tightness, and shortness of breath, seeking medical treatment as soon as possible is the most effective way to reduce complications. Of course, for patients with heart disease, early treatment is the most effective way to prevent infective endocarditis.
4. Viral myocarditis:
Inflammatory disease of myocardium occurs after virus infection enters the heart with blood. Its early symptoms are similar to those of common virus infection, such as fever, body aches, fatigue, and later symptoms of decreased cardiac function such as chest pain, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. There is no specific treatment for the treatment. Mild cases can recover by rest and symptomatic treatment, while severe cases may require cardiac assist device treatment.
How can young people detect heart problems early?
Zhang Xiaoshen reminded that, first of all, in terms of symptoms, many heart diseases will have symptoms such as chest tightness, palpitations, chest pain, and difficulty breathing. If you have the above symptoms, you should rule out whether there is a heart problem.
Second, auscultation. Auscultation is a very simple method to identify structural heart disease. If you hear a different sound around the heart than others, you can go to the hospital for further examination to confirm the diagnosis.
Third, family history. If close relatives in the family have had heart problems, because some heart diseases are genetically predisposed, preventive examinations should be performed to rule out heart problems. (Zhang Qingmei, Zhang Cancheng, Wang Xue)
[Editor in charge: Shen Tian]