Lifestyle changes to reduce cardiovascular disease

Experts recommend that people need to change their lifestyle and diet to prevent metabolic disorders - a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

Returning to the inpatient room after being taken for an echocardiogram and electrocardiogram, Mr. Vu (73 years old, in Lam Dong) excitedly showed that his myocardial ischemia had improved, his liver and kidney function was stable, and his heart function was recovering well.

Experts recommend that people need to change their lifestyle and eat healthily to prevent metabolic disorders that are a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

He was in a good mood and relieved because he was lucky enough to have discovered coronary artery disease and received timely intervention, avoiding the risk of sudden death. That same afternoon, he was eligible to be discharged from the hospital with a total examination, intervention and resuscitation time of only 3 days.

Mr. Vu has smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day for over 20 years. In mid-May 2023, he noticed blurred vision and decreased vision. After going to an ophthalmologist, the doctor concluded that his eyes were cloudy and that surgery was needed to remove the clouds.

However, pre-operative tests showed that Mr. Vu had severe myocardial ischemia and needed a certificate from a cardiologist before surgery could be performed. He was taken to the hospital by his relatives for examination.

Mr. Vu was diagnosed with myocardial ischemia from the lower level but did not have typical symptoms of this condition such as chest pain and shortness of breath.

Echocardiography results showed that the patient had moderate heart failure (41%), asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction. Coronary angiography determined stenosis of all three coronary branches: occlusion of the anterior interventricular artery, 90% stenosis of the right coronary artery and the circumflex artery.

This is the reason why Mr. Vu has silent myocardial ischemia leading to heart failure, the disease progresses silently for a long time without any signs of recognition. If not detected early and treated promptly, the patient is at risk of sudden death at any time.

Doctors determined that the patient had severe stenosis of the major blood vessels that supply the heart. However, because all of these lesions were localized (only a short segment was blocked), there was still a possibility of intervention and no need for bypass surgery.

In cases of stenosis in all three branches like Mr. Vu, and a history of stage 3 chronic kidney failure, the procedure usually has to be divided into two sessions to avoid the patient being given too much contrast material, as well as to give the kidneys time to eliminate all contrast material before further intervention.

But thanks to the Cardiac Swing coronary angiography technique that minimizes the amount of contrast agent injected into the patient's body, along with the experience of the interventional doctors, the team decided to perform the procedure only once. Thanks to that, the patient only had to stay in the hospital for 3 days compared to the usual 7-10 days, while preserving liver and kidney function.

The biggest difficulty is when dilating the anterior interventricular branch, because the blood vessel is blocked, the entrance is almost invisible, the doctor has to use a guide wire with a very small diameter (0.2 mm, normal guide wire is 0.4 mm). In addition, the narrowed section is also divided in two, making it very difficult to get the wire through, forcing a small balloon to dilate to "open the way" into the main blood vessel.

Thanks to that, the guide wire was easily threaded through and the stent placement process went smoothly. In particular, the team applied the Kissing Balloon technique to save the main branch without affecting the side branches.

Master, Doctor, Doctor Tran The Vinh, Vascular Intervention Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that because the patient was old and weak, the team needed to shorten the procedure time while still ensuring the goal of clearing 3 branches in one intervention. With quick, careful and precise manipulation, less than 2 hours later, the procedure was successfully completed with 3 large diameter stents (4.0 mm, 4.0 mm and 4.5 mm) placed in 3 coronary branches, re-opening blood flow to the heart.

Master, Doctor, Doctor Tran The Vinh informed that silent myocardial ischemia is a serious disease, caused by partial or complete blockage of the coronary arteries.

Patients do not have typical symptoms of myocardial ischemia such as angina, sweating, shortness of breath, nausea. Therefore, patients do not know they have the disease, leading to an increased risk of death from coronary artery disease.

To prevent myocardial ischemia in particular and cardiovascular diseases in general, each person needs to adhere to a healthy lifestyle such as quitting smoking, controlling and treating diseases that can increase the risk of myocardial ischemia such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, and having a heart-healthy diet.

People with cardiovascular disease or people with risk factors who suddenly feel unwell, have jaw pain or indigestion, find it more difficult to perform daily tasks... should go to the hospital for early examination.

Regarding heart diseases, according to doctors at the Cardiovascular Center, E Hospital, in the past 5 years, the Cardiovascular Center, E Hospital has received more and more young patients with cardiovascular diseases, with nearly 8,000 inpatient cases treated annually, including surgery for more than 1,300 patients with heart, blood vessel and chest diseases.

E Hospital's Cardiovascular Center is the first unit to perform routine endoscopic open heart surgery in the largest number of cases, over 900 cases, with a high success rate. This is one of the largest cardiovascular intervention facilities in the country with over 24,000 cases in both adults and children.

Dr. Phan Thao Nguyen, Deputy Director of E Hospital, said that as disease patterns change, cardiovascular diseases also change. In the world, cardiovascular diseases are the third leading cause of death.

Experts recommend that people need to change their lifestyle and eat healthily to prevent metabolic disorders that are risks of cardiovascular diseases, in which smoking, obesity and high blood pressure combined increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke by 30%.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/thay-doi-loi-song-de-han-che-benh-ly-tim-mach-d223231.html