Lecture on heart disease prevention

For the vast majority of ordinary people, there is no need to take expensive health products or find any folk remedies to prevent heart disease. If you continue to control the four indicators of blood pressure, blood lipids, blood sugar, and waist circumference within the Chinese standard safety line starting from the age of 30, you can avoid more than 80% of the risk of premature heart disease.

Let me tell you about a case I just encountered last week. A 34-year-old Internet product manager was found to have a low blood pressure of 105 during his physical examination and three red blood lipids. He felt that he was young and did not take it seriously. He still stayed up until midnight with two glasses of ice cream every day. Last week, when he was working on a project, he suddenly had chest pain. An angiogram revealed that the anterior descending artery was 80% blocked, and a stent was installed. Do you think it's unfair or not? If he had lowered his blood pressure to below 130/80 and controlled his low-density lipoprotein to within 2.6mmol/L half a year in advance, he would never have reached this point. To put it bluntly, blood vessels are just like the tap water pipes at home. If you flush them with high-pressure water mixed with grease every day, can scale accumulate quickly?

Many people get confused when they hear that they need to control their indicators. Do they think they will have to eat boiled vegetables every day and go to the gym every day? Not really. There is a 78-year-old coronary heart disease patient next to me. He used to be inseparable from braised pork every day, but now he eats it twice a week, two or three pieces each time to satisfy his cravings. During the rest of the time, he eats more dark green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli. He uses oats instead of half of the white rice and white noodles every day. His blood lipids are much better controlled than those who eat vegetarian meals every day and secretly eat puff potato chips. Oh, by the way, when it comes to the intake of saturated fat, there are indeed still differences in the industry: some studies in Europe and the United States in recent years believe that healthy people do not need to completely abstain from animal fat, as long as the total calories do not exceed the standard. However, the current domestic consensus still recommends that saturated fat intake accounts for less than 10% of the total calories, especially for people who already have high blood pressure and high blood lipids. There is really no need to gamble with your own blood vessels on the conclusions of the new study. Occasionally, you can eat butter hot pot to satisfy your cravings. Don’t worry.

There is no standard answer when it comes to exercise. Old-school doctors will recommend that you walk briskly and jog for 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. It is friendly to joints and less prone to accidents. In recent years, there have been many studies supporting high-intensity interval training of about 10 minutes 2-3 times a week, such as a cycle of 1 minute of fast running and 2 minutes of slow walking, which is more efficient in improving cardiopulmonary function. Last time, a 60-year-old aunt came for a review and said that after listening to other lectures, she walked 20,000 steps a day, and her knees accumulated fluid and she had to carry it. I told her that it was completely unnecessary. You danced square dance with the old sisters for half an hour every day, chatted and got enough exercise. You were in a good mood and exercised your heart and lungs. It was 10 times better than walking 20,000 steps and hurting your knees. Just choose an exercise that you can stick to. There is no need to stick to which one is the "healthiest".

Many people ask me whether I should take health supplements such as Coenzyme Q10 and Omega3 to prevent heart disease. To be honest, if you are a healthy person with a normal diet, you really don’t need to spend that much money. As long as you occasionally eat some deep-sea fish and plain nuts, you will get enough nutrients. If you already have myocarditis or are taking statins, it is indeed beneficial to take some coenzyme Q10 as directed by your doctor, but don't buy the "imported high-end model" that costs hundreds of yuan a bottle in the live broadcast studio. The OTC model that costs a few yuan a bottle in the drugstore has the same ingredients. Oh, by the way, there is really no dispute about smoking. Regardless of whether it is first or second hand, as long as it is touched, it will directly damage the endothelium of blood vessels. It is much more harmful than your occasional barbecue. Quit if you can. If you can't, try to smoke as little as possible. Don't smoke in front of the elderly and children.

I usually work a lot of night shifts, and my schedule is not particularly regular. Every time I get off the night shift, I walk around the small park of the hospital for 20 minutes before going home. I always keep a small handful of original almonds in my bag. I eat two when I am hungry. I will never touch the milk tea or puffed food that everyone distributes at the nurse station. All four indicators of my physical examination in the past few years have been green. I’m not telling you to learn from me. I want to say that prevention is never about changing your appearance all of a sudden and making your life miserable. It’s about incorporating these small actions into your daily life.

There is another point that people tend to overlook, which is the impact of emotions on the heart. In the past two years, I have seen no fewer than five patients who had quarrels and were sent to the hospital for myocardial infarction, especially the elderly who have high blood pressure. Don't insist on arguing with others whenever something happens. It's really not worth it. As for the issue of drinking, it used to be said that drinking a small amount of alcohol softens blood vessels. In recent years, more and more studies have proven that just touching alcohol can damage blood vessels. If you really like to drink, drink once or twice a week, with no more than one tael of white wine and no more than half a glass of red wine each time. There is no need to put too much psychological burden on it. After all, a good mood itself is a good medicine for protecting the heart.

The words I talked about today are not fancy professional terms, they are all honest words that I have accumulated from many regrets after seeing so many clinical cases over the years. You don’t need to remember too much after listening today. Now reach out and feel your waist. Men should not exceed 90cm and women should not exceed 85cm. Take a look at those four indicators during the next physical examination. If they are all within the safety line, it is better than anything else. If you have any questions, you can stay and ask me after the show is over. That’s all for today.