About 200,000 people die/year from cardiovascular disease
Recently, the news that model and actor Duc Tien suddenly passed away at the age of 44 due to a heart attack has shocked and saddened many people. The disease that actor Duc Tien suffered from is currently very common and tends to be younger in Vietnam.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 17.5 million people die each year from cardiovascular diseases. Myocardial infarction is an emergency; if not treated promptly, the risk of death is 50%.
In Vietnam, each year about 200,000 people die from cardiovascular disease, accounting for 33% of all deaths. This rate is double the number of people who die from cancer, which is also the leading cause of death today.
Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Duy Ton - Director of Stroke Center, Bach Mai Hospital examines a stroke patient .
In fact, both heart attack and stroke are medical conditions that involve a stoppage of blood flow. However, stroke affects the brain, while heart attack affects the heart.
According to medical experts, myocardial infarction is a dangerous acute cardiovascular event, a phenomenon in which a blood clot suddenly blocks the coronary artery (blood vessels surrounding the heart).
Referring to this issue, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Sinh Hien - Director of Hanoi Heart Hospital, Chairman of Hanoi Cardiovascular Association said that myocardial infarction occurs when a branch or both coronary arteries are suddenly partially or completely blocked. If mild, it will cause heart failure, heart muscle damage, if severe, it will cause an acute myocardial infarction. Pathological anatomy results also show that up to 50% of myocardial infarction patients die before being admitted to the hospital. Some patients admitted to the hospital may also have a very high mortality rate.
Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Manh Hung - Director of the National Heart Institute, Bach Mai Hospital said that patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, a history of stroke or myocardial infarction, or a family history of epilepsy are at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
Meanwhile, a stroke occurs when a blood vessel to the brain is blocked or ruptured, causing damage to areas of the brain due to lack of oxygen.
Every year, Vietnam records about 200,000 - 225,000 stroke cases, 50% of which are fatal. Currently, about 15% of stroke patients are between the ages of 18 - 50. Notably, the rate of young people under 40 years old suffering from this disease is increasing by an average of 2% each year, in which the number of men is 4 times higher than that of women.
Preventing stroke in young people
Explaining the reason why the stroke rate is tending to be younger and increasing, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co - Director of Bach Mai Hospital said that the main cause is unhealthy lifestyle, in which habits of living, eating, lack of exercise; frequent use of stimulants such as alcohol, beer, cigarettes, drugs; staying up late are the causes of the high rate of stroke in young people.
Medical experts also warn that when having a stroke, patients may have signs such as sudden collapse, hemiplegia, crooked mouth, difficulty swallowing, difficulty speaking, coma, etc. Most stroke patients will have a cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction, which limits the patient's ability to move, communicate, and may even be bedridden. Stroke is very dangerous, causing disability or death.
Emergency patient at Stroke Center, Bach Mai Hospital.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Duy Ton - Director of the Stroke Center, Bach Mai Hospital, the number of stroke patients admitted to the Center has increased over the years. In 2023, doctors received 13,228 people, an increase of more than 2,000 cases compared to the previous year, about 8% of whom were young people. About 20% of patients came to the hospital early during the "golden time", an increase compared to before but still very low compared to the world.
According to medical experts, there are two types of stroke. One is ischemic stroke, in which blood flow and oxygen are interrupted, causing damage to brain tissue. This group accounts for about 85% of all strokes and 60% of strokes occur in patients under 50 years old.
Hemorrhagic stroke, in which blood leaks out of a blood vessel into or around the brain, causing damage to underlying brain tissue (due to high blood pressure or a brain vascular malformation), accounts for about 15% of all strokes, but 40% of strokes in patients under 50 years of age.
Most strokes in young people are related to risk factors such as high blood pressure, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and unhealthy lifestyles. Strokes in young people are also caused by congenital abnormalities such as cerebral vascular malformations that are present since childhood, and when the aneurysm is large enough, it ruptures.
Therefore, medical experts recommend that to protect cardiovascular health in general and detect early signs of myocardial infarction and stroke in young people, each person needs to have a reasonable diet, limit eating fat, animal skin, liver, fast food. Actively exercise, limit alcohol and stimulants. In particular, young people should not subjectively think that the disease only occurs in the elderly, ignoring the warning signs. Patients need to have regular health check-ups at least every 6 months, proactively prevent the risk of disease.
The golden time for stroke treatment is 270 minutes if thrombolytic drugs are used to dissolve blood clots, or within 6-8 hours if mechanical thrombectomy is performed in the case of large artery occlusion in the brain. However, the sooner a patient is treated within this time frame, the higher the chance of recovery with minimal sequelae. Conversely, the later the treatment is given within this time window, the lower the chance of recovery.
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