What medicine should be taken to prevent heart disease?

First of all, I want to pour cold water on everyone. There is no "miracle drug for preventing heart disease" that is suitable for everyone. Ordinary people who are healthy and have no high-risk cardiovascular factors do not need to take medicine to prevent heart disease. Only people who have been professionally evaluated by doctors and are high-risk groups or people who already have underlying cardiovascular diseases need targeted medication.

Not long ago, I met a 30-year-old young man in the clinic. His father had suffered a myocardial infarction in his 40s. He stayed up late and worked overtime every day. His blood pressure had been hovering at the critical value of 140/90 for a long time. He was so scared that he bought several Internet celebrity heart-protecting health products, such as Coenzyme Q10. , deep-sea fish oil, and nattokinase for half a year, but when he came for a follow-up check-up, his blood lipids were a bit higher. When I asked him, I found out that he felt that eating these was equivalent to insuring his heart. There was no delay in eating barbecue and staying up late at night. Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?

Of course, this does not mean that all preventive medicines are gimmicks. For example, Uncle Wang, an old patient with a 10-year history of hypertension and soft plaques in his carotid arteries was found last year. The doctor adjusted his antihypertensive plan and added a low-dose statin. After a year of follow-up, the low-density lipoprotein dropped to below 1.8mmol/L and the plaques were stabilized, which is equivalent to directly reducing the risk of myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction. But his old friends in the community heard that statins can protect the heart, so he went to the drugstore to buy them even though he didn't have any problems. After taking it for two months, his transaminase increased, and he was hospitalized for a few days to adjust his liver function. Isn't this a counterexample of blindly taking medicine. There is also the aspirin that everyone often hears about. Not everyone can take it. Only people whose risk of blood clots is clearly higher than the risk of bleeding will be recommended by doctors to take it in small doses. People who have gastric ulcers and poor coagulation function can easily induce gastric bleeding and end up losing more than they gain by taking it indiscriminately.

As for popular supplements such as Coenzyme Q10 and Omega-3 that everyone often asks about, there is currently no unified conclusion in the academic community. Some studies believe that for people who have suffered myocardial damage or have obvious muscle soreness after taking statins, supplementing Coenzyme Q10 can relieve discomfort. There are also many large-scale clinical studies that have confirmed that healthy people taking these supplements regularly cannot reduce the risk of heart disease. Eating too much will increase the metabolic burden on the liver and kidneys. There is no need to spend such money.

To be honest, many people think about what medicine to take to protect their heart every day, but they turn a blind eye to those bad habits that damage the heart. They eat too much salt and oil every day, stay up until the middle of the night, and smoke without leaving their hands. The damage to the heart caused by these bad habits cannot be repaired by taking many supplements. If you are really worried that you are at risk of heart disease, it is better to go to the hospital for a comprehensive cardiovascular assessment first, and let the doctor help you decide whether to take medicine and what medicine to use. Don’t just buy and take random medicines after reading a few online articles. After all, medicines are divided into three parts, and medicines that are suitable for others may be "poison" that is harmful to your body.