Many people think that taking a cardiogram is a test of the heart. In fact, a cardiogram shows what is at a particular moment, but does not show what can happen. An absolutely normal cardiogram can be taken two hours before a heart attack. The predictive value of such a diagnosis is extremely low.
It is vital to know your blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar, hereditary history. The doctor can prescribe an ultrasound of the vessels of the neck (it will show a predisposition to deposits) and check the thickness of the artery walls. Another great way to extend your life is to quit smoking, as a gift you will get 8-10 years of precious life.
Learn about the risks involved and take responsibility for your health.
Often I hear: “I can not take a deep breath, it stabs on the left side.” Patients always associate these sensations with heart pain, but it is not always characteristic of the main organ. Here it is more likely in the musculoskeletal (ribs, spine) or nervous system. There is still an esophagus, lungs, bronchi in the thoracic region, and discomfort may occur there. And if, for example, pain in the chest is accompanied by an increase in temperature, this is a signal of pneumonia or pleura.
How heart hurts
The first option is angina pectoris. For example, during sports, a burning, baking, pressing pain appeared in the chest. It is worth stopping the load – and the discomfort gradually disappears. This is an alarming signal that your blood vessels have been out of order for a long time. It was necessary to consult a doctor many years ago, but it is not too late to do so. Unlike the second option.
The second option is acute coronary syndrome, which in turn forms myocardial infarction. Pressing, pain behind the sternum and in the center of the heart can spread to the neck, arm, stomach or go to the right or left shoulder. The significant difference is that this pain is very intense, it is accompanied by a fear of death, increased sweating, pallor and weakness.
In this case, there is no such thing that gets sick and then passes; there is pain, and you can not escape from it. Immediately call an ambulance, do not self-medicate. Here help emergency surgery, the sooner you will be taken to the operating room on the stent, the b of lshy piece of heart muscle can be maintained.
What happens to the heart
Angina pectoris occurs as follows. In the arteries that supply the heart, an atherosclerotic plaque has already occurred and narrowed the lumen of the vessel by 60% or more. When playing sports or brisk walking, the need for blood supply increases. The heart begins to pump blood intensively. Obstacle in the form of a plaque does not allow blood, saturated with necessary oxygen, to pass to the heart in a timely manner. There is a mismatch between opportunities and needs. Hence the pain.
With a heart attack, the cause of the pain is the same – an atherosclerotic plaque already exists. But here it already ruptures inside the artery (vessel), and its liquid content enters the lumen of the artery (atherosclerotic plaque resembles a fresh pimple that sticks out in the lumen). Blood coagulates on the surface of the plaque and clogs the lumen of the artery. It ceases to flow to the area of the heart that this artery supplies. Then this site dies, and his death is accompanied by intense chest pain.
If this happens in the heart, it is a heart attack, and if it occurs in the brain, ischemic stroke. Strictly speaking, stroke and heart attack were originally not a disease of the heart and brain, but a vascular disease (atherosclerosis), which can lead to the death of a part of the heart, brain, or other organs, because all organs receive blood supply through the arteries.
Reasons for education
The appearance of atherosclerotic plaque inside the vessel directly depends on lifestyle and heredity. The plaque grows due to the deposition of cholesterol in the walls of the artery. This process occurs in all people, but at different speeds. Deposition depends on four main factors: pressure, smoking, cholesterol and blood sugar. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, as well as smoking, overweight and an unstable lifestyle lead to the fact that cholesterol is deposited more intensively in the walls of arteries and plaques appear at a young age.
Can a heart ache due to stress
After a heart attack, a person may not die, but a piece of the pump does not work. The heart performs poorly its pumping function and poorly delivers nutrients to all tissues of the body. This is heart failure. When the heart does not pump blood well, it can lead to stagnation of fluid – especially in the lungs. The respiratory surface of the lungs decreases – shortness of breath occurs. But there can be many causes of shortness of breath, among the most popular ones being overweight, smoking and lack of physical activity.
Moreover, stress and nervous state, which, according to patients, are always guilty of everything and are not related to heart failure. By the way, fatigue (fatigue) is considered a symptom of all diseases, according to the medical reference book. Although a completely healthy person can be tired.
What affects the health of blood vessels
You can build your diet from broccoli and breast, but this is only a partial help to the body in the fight against cholesterol. Of course, you need to avoid fast food, but cholesterol production depends not only on food. By 80%, it is produced independently; by proper nutrition, its level can be reduced by a maximum of 10-15%. Cholesterol levels are largely determined by heredity.
It is increased in 54% of Europeans. The same is the case with blood pressure, which mechanically damages the walls of the arteries and is considered the second cause of rupture of the plaque and vascular wear. You can be a slender or athletic person, a vegan, lead a healthy lifestyle, but if your parents had high blood pressure, then there is a high probability that this tendency will be transmitted to children.
According to the new American classification, normal pressure is 120/80 and lower. Everything above 130/80 is hypertension. Most girls have fairly low blood pressure. Female hormones protect the vessels, and only after hormonal changes (pregnancy, menopause) arterial hypertension can occur if there is a hereditary predisposition.
The third factor is cigarettes: in Russia, 31% of the population smokes. Smoking creates chemical damage to the arteries. It turns out that if the vessels are fragile, the pressure is high, there is a plaque, then it can burst, clog and lead to unpleasant consequences.
Problems with the vessels, which in the future I can go to the heart, is a combination of the above factors. In addition, overweight and a sedentary lifestyle. Stroke and heart attack are diagnoses that cause significant harm to later life. Plaque rupture can occur in any other organ (there are arteries in the liver or kidneys too, and there may be plaques in them), but we cannot always notice this.
If nothing hurts
It is widely believed that with high blood pressure a headache is a myth. Unfortunately, a person does not have receptors with which he could feel high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
Often a heart attack or stroke is considered the first and last symptoms of the fact that the vessels are not in good condition for a long time. Due to the lack of health problems, a person could not even think that something was wrong with him. In practice, I have come across many times when a patient claims to feel great. In fact, he has a pressure of under 250, his blood vessels are aging at a monstrous speed, and just about everything will end in tears.
At risk are all people who do not know their blood pressure, cholesterol or blood sugar, especially if their relatives have suffered strokes, heart attacks or sudden death, if their first-line relatives died “from the heart” or “blood clots” at the age of up to 65 years old. Sudden death for no apparent reason is most often a cardiovascular catastrophe.
