Protective Suggestions Against Heart Diseases

By Editor On Dec 7, 2023

Protective Suggestions Against Heart Diseases

Coronary heart diseases continue to remain in the first place among the causes of death all over the world. However, scientists point out that it is possible to protect from the disease or even regress the disease with changes in lifestyle. Anadolu Health Center Cardiology Specialists explain the precautions to be taken against heart diseases…

Although heart diseases related to the coronary vessels are called by names such as infarction, coronary insufficiency, heart attack, etc., they all rely on the same basis: The coronary vessels feeding the heart narrow due to arteriosclerosis, become calcified, and due to the inability of blood to pass through them, the part of the heart fed by that vessel becomes deprived of blood, loses its vitality and dies.

In coronary insufficiency, even though the heart has not lost its vitality and has not become fatal, it gives warnings and progresses over time. The final point of this picture is a heart attack. When we look at the stages before a heart attack, the first stage is narrowing of the arteries. This narrowing, called Angino pectoris, occurs with pain that starts in the chest and spreads to the left arm. This stenosis, which progresses more and more over time, is either completely blocked or a clot forms on it, completely blocking blood flow, resulting in a condition called infarction. Since this situation, which can even result in death, is overcome, the problem continues, and some methods are applied to reach definitive solutions.

deterioration of blood vessels

Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) has known and unknown causes. There are typical risk factors that damage the vascular walls, smoking being one of them. In addition, a diet rich in fatty foods, high blood lipids, diabetes and high blood pressure, and genetic factors are other determining risk factors.

Risk factors that cause heart disease:

Effect of genetic factors on the heart:

Although it is known that genetic factors are effective in heart diseases, it is not possible to give numerical data. However, if there are early deaths due to atherosclerosis in several people in the family and close family members, this indicates that genetic factors are effective in the person and special attention should be paid. When acquired factors such as smoking habit, wrong diet and lifestyle, and stress are added to the genetic structure, the progression of the problem accelerates.

Although it is a genetic feature, it is possible to prevent or slow down the disease by eliminating known risk factors.

Effect of age on the heart:

Aging occurs in the vessels as we age, and the duration of exposure to risk factors also increases with age. However, in recent years, this problem has started to affect young people as well. The factor here is increased exposure to risk factors such as smoking and malnutrition. Research shows that the deterioration in blood vessels begins at the age of 7-8.

Effect of metabolic syndrome on the heart:

According to American statistics, metabolic syndrome is a problem that affects 24-25 percent of the society, and although it does not appear in the clinic, its complications may arise in the future. There are some tips to understand children with this syndrome; The child is obese, blood pressure values are at the upper limit of normal, blood sugar values are normal or at the upper limit of normal. Children who are obese or have diabetes have a high risk of having a heart attack in their 30s unless diagnosed early. It is possible to prevent, reduce or delay the problems that may occur in the future by making changes in the lifestyle of such children and regulating their eating habits. It should not be forgotten that the traditional idea that “a chubby child is healthy” is not true.

What are the treatment methods for cardiovascular diseases?

After the diagnosis is made, the problem is mapped with angiography. If there is critical stenosis in the coronary vessels at the end of this examination, eliminating this stenosis is the first principle of treatment. Since there is no method to eliminate this stenosis, the stenosis can be overcome with an interventional method, that is, with a balloon or stent. If these methods cannot be applied for various reasons, surgery is used. In surgery, veins taken from another part of the body are added to the clogged vessels of the heart. Thus, the blockage is left behind and blood flow in the vein is ensured. This is the most effective, established, classical and radical treatment today. However, there are situations where neither of these two methods can be applied. In other words, there may be patients in whom both stents and surgery cannot be applied due to the way the disease develops. In addition, there are patients who do not require invasive treatment or surgery even though they have the disease. Medical treatments are used in both groups of patients. In parallel with the developments in interventional and surgical methods, significant advances have been made in medical treatments over time.

Can vasoconstriction be stopped?

It is possible to slow down the development or acceleration of the disease by playing with risk factors. For example, by quitting smoking, calcification of the heart vessels can be delayed or even prevented. Again, by following a healthy diet program, the rate of hardening of the arteries can be slowed down or even reversed. By changing lifestyle, losing weight and lowering blood fats, the rate of narrowing of the veins can be stopped and even reversed. With this method, 70 percent stenosis in the veins can be reduced to 50 percent.

The current state of surgery for vascular stenosis

For some patients, surgery is not needed because surgery would be too aggressive and the problem can be resolved with a stent. In a group of patients, stent treatment may not be successful. These patients undergo bypass procedure unconditionally. Another group of patients who are in the middle of this situation, which creates two extremes, is treated with stents or surgery. Since there is confusion about which of these to do, 1 million stents are inserted annually in the United States and around 200 thousand surgeries are performed.

There is a group of patients for whom surgery cannot be performed. Sometimes, knowingly or unknowingly, the disease progresses so much that surgery cannot be performed. Or, it may not allow surgery because it is unfavorable in terms of the way the disease occurs. However, other than these cases, there is no specific age limit for bypass. In other words, any patient who has an indication for surgery can have surgery, regardless of age.

Interventional methods also have their own complications. The rate of these complications has decreased significantly today; For example, while the risk for bypass surgery is 1 percent, if the person does not have surgery, the risk is 40 percent at every moment of his life. Although there have been great developments in terms of interventional methods today, it is still not possible to talk about a definitive solution. In this sense, work continues at an incredible pace.

Who is at risk for heart disease?

• People with a family history of heart disease

• People who are overweight and have high blood fat levels

• People who smoke

• Those with high blood pressure

• Those with diabetes

• Employees under extreme stress