May 2023, 5 is National Vascular Health Day. "18·5" comes from an indicator value - the cut-off value of abnormal total cholesterol in normal people's blood - 18.5 mmol/L. Atherosclerotic plaques formed by cholesterol deposits are the most important factor threatening the health of blood vessels, which in turn determines a person's lifespan.
How to protect the health of blood vessels and lay a good foundation for longevity? The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (hereinafter referred to as "Guangzhou Medical First Hospital") Nanshan famous medical group supports everyone one by one——
Medical guidance/Chief physician Wang Haiyang, director of the Department of Vascular Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Luo Bihui, chief physician of the Department of Cardiology, and Ren Peihua, chief physician of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Text/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Weng Shuxian Correspondents Ru Zhina, Han Wenqing
Wang Haiyang: Avoid standing and sitting for a long time Be wary of "earthworm legs" that are ugly and hurt
Every morning, you go out with brisk steps, after a day's work, will your steps become heavier and heavier after work in the evening, and even often feel sore calves? If so, you should be vigilant, perhaps an early warning "signal" from varicose veins of the lower extremities.
"20% of adults will be troubled by varicose veins, and simple varicose veins of the lower extremities are blood reflux diseases, which have a lot to do with increased venous pressure in the lower extremities." Wang Haiyang, director of the Department of Vascular Surgery of the First Hospital of Guangzhou Hospital, reminds that office people often sit for half a day or even a whole day every day, blood is easy to block the lower limbs, and the accumulated venous valves may be damaged to varying degrees, resulting in excessive venous pressure, and then develop into a common lower limb vascular disease - varicose veins, which are commonly known as "earthworm legs" by the common people.
Wang Haiyang explained that patients with varicose veins are mostly sedentary for a long time, blood stasis in the lower limbs, and the function of venous valves is destroyed over time, resulting in insufficiency of the venous wall, and the pressure of the vein wall increases sharply due to blood backflow, and the blood vessels gradually expand and deform over time. Over time, when blood cannot flow smoothly and gradually accumulates in the calf, different degrees of leg swelling, soreness, inability to stand for a long time or walk far may occur. In the middle and late stages, if not intervened in time, deep veins can be involved, such as skin itching, eczema, pigmentation and even ulceration, severe and even deep vein thrombosis, if the thrombus loosens into the blood circulation system, it will increase the risk of fatal pulmonary embolism.
Learn to "decompress" veins
Wang Haiyang suggested that people who usually need to stand for a long time due to work and other reasons, such as teachers, cooks, sanitation workers, urban white-collar workers and other high-risk groups of varicose veins, are recommended to do regular vascular screening. Even if there is no trouble in this regard, you should avoid sitting and standing for a long time in your daily life and work, and you should walk around and take a walk at intervals to "decompress" your veins. Once varicose veins are detected, appropriate intervention can be taken according to the extent of the disease. For example, in the early stage, conservative treatment can be achieved by improving living habits, controlling sedentary and standing time, exercising appropriately daily, and wearing elastic stockings and medication under the guidance of doctors. In the advanced stage, if there are serious symptoms such as skin ulceration and thrombophlebitis, varicose veins can be treated by minimally invasive saphenous vein radiofrequency ablation and sclerosing injection, even patients with severe varicose veins can walk on the ground after surgery on the same day, and can be discharged from the hospital to resume normal life on the same day.
Luo Bihui: Can diet alone control arterial plaque?
"Arterial plaque is one of the most common causes of cardiovascular disease." Chief physician Luo Bihui of the Department of Cardiology of the First Hospital of Guangzhou Medical Center explained that in layman's terms, plaque mainly refers to arterial plaque. Vascular plaque, which mainly affects life and life, tends to occur in the vascular walls of large and middle arteries. The large artery refers to the aorta, and the middle artery refers to the coronary artery of the heart, the internal carotid and vertebral arteries of the neck, the cerebral arteries of the brain, the renal arteries of the kidneys, the subclavian arteries that extend to the upper limbs, the femoral arteries of the lower limbs and important branches. Once the arterial plaque ruptures, it can induce acute vascular embolic events, such as the familiar cerebral artery embolism causing acute stroke, coronary artery embolism causing acute myocardial infarction, etc. Clinically, ultrasound or, if necessary, further angiography can help detect the presence or absence of plaque in blood vessels, as well as the size and severity of plaques.
How does arterial plaque form?
"We have a saying that slips through the tongue – age, gender, 'four highs and one breath,' family history, it covers most of the common causes of plaque in the arteries." Luo Bihui pointed out that age, gender, family history are uncontrollable factors for plaque production, and "four highs and one inhalation", namely "high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high blood lipids, high body weight and smoking" are all controllable factors that can be intervened to cause arterial plaque. Therefore, if you want to prevent arterial plaque, you can at least start with controllable factors, actively quit smoking and control blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids and weight, which are closely related to daily diet.
So, can you control plaque by diet? Luo Bihui analyzed that among the "four high" factors that can be intervened, hypertensive patients can not maintain an effective antihypertensive effect by relying only on a low-sodium diet on a daily basis, and they also need to be treated with medication; The control of hyperglycemia - diabetes emphasizes appropriate diet + exercise + drug treatment to help reduce the rate of vascular plaque production; In terms of hyperlipidemia, dietary control does facilitate the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia, but has limited effect on lowering blood low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Because only a small part of the cholesterol in the blood is ingested from food, most of it is synthesized by the body itself. Therefore, diet and control alone cannot completely solve the health threat caused by plaque and reverse the formation of vascular plaque. What's more, in addition to the controllable factors of "high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high blood lipids, high body weight" and smoking, uncontrollable factors such as age, gender, and family history also continue to promote the formation and progression of arterial plaque. Therefore, in addition to controlling blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipids, weight and smoking cessation, it is also necessary to follow the doctor's prescription for medication treatment at different stages of the disease, and conduct regular physical examinations, and once arterial plaque is found, it should be evaluated and intervened as soon as possible under the guidance of a doctor to better maintain vascular health.
Ren Peihua: Prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease Traditional Chinese medicine regulates diet therapy to help
Major diseases that endanger life and health are mostly related to blood vessels, and coronary heart disease is one of the common vascular diseases. How to stay away from the threat of coronary heart disease? Chief physician Ren Peihua of the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the First Hospital of Guangzhou Medical Center gave suggestions for adjusting and nursing based on common symptoms:
Certificate Type 1. Evidence of cardiac obstruction
Clinical manifestations: chest tightness, chest pain, palpitations, purple tongue or petechiae ecchymosis;
Treatment: to activate blood circulation and remove stasis, commonly used drugs include danshen, Panax notoginseng, etc.;
Recommended dietary remedy: Tianqi lotus seed soup
100 grams of lean meat, 10 grams of tianqi, 15 grams of lotus seeds, 1 slices of ginger, a little salt, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer for <> hour.
Certificate Type 2. Sputum obstruction evidence
Clinical manifestations: chest tightness, dry mouth, tasteless, fat and cloudy tongue, purple tongue, smooth or slippery pulses;
Treatment: to dissolve phlegm as the method, commonly used drugs include melon, tangerine peel, bamboo asphalt;
Recommended dietary remedy: tangerine peel duck soup
Half a duck, 5 grams of tangerine peel, 6 jujubes, 5 slices of ginger, a little salt, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer for 1.5 hours.
Certificate Type 3. Hypotonic temper
Clinical manifestations: shortness of breath, fatigue, lazy chest tightness, light and tender tongue or tooth marks, pulse, etc.;
Treatment: to strengthen the spleen and invigorate qi, commonly used drugs such as ginseng, American ginseng, astragalus, etc.;
Recommended dietary remedy: American ginseng rib soup
100g pork ribs, 10g American ginseng, 10g cordyceps flowers, 5 slices of ginger, a little salt, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer for 1 hour.
Certificate Type 4. Evidence of heart and kidney yang deficiency
Clinical manifestations: chest tightness, chest pain, mental fatigue, lower limb edema, paleness, warm limbs, cold intolerance, light tongue or fat, fine pulse;
Treatment: warm kidney aphrodisiac as the method, commonly used drugs include dried ginger, cinnamon, etc.;
Recommended dietary remedy: Bajin black chicken soup
Half a black chicken, 20 grams of fresh halberd, 15 grams of astragalus, 5 slices of ginger, a little salt, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer for 1 hour.
"Eat some foods that help protect blood vessels every day." Ren Peihua said, such as kumquat, black fungus, hawthorn and so on. In addition, you should eat a low-fat and low-salt diet, eat more vegetables and fruits, quit smoking and limit alcohol, exercise appropriately, and maintain a comfortable mood.