"A few days ago, I found out the carotid plaque, I was worried that it would block the blood vessels, I was scared, I wanted to take health products and felt unreliable, I thought that it would work with some Chinese medicine, just this salvia slices and notoginseng powder, I heard that they all have the effect of opening blood vessels, but which one is better?"
Once, during a free clinic in the community, an uncle who looked to be in his 50s brought his own physical examination report and asked the staff, saying that he had carotid plaque and wanted to take Chinese medicine to clear the blood vessels, but he didn't know whether it was better to take salvia tablets or Panax notoginseng powder, so he wanted to consult.
To be honest, it's not surprising to encounter such a patient. In fact, it is a good thing, which shows that the middle-aged and elderly people are paying more and more attention to their health status, but the problem is that they do not see a doctor when they are sick, but take medicine indiscriminately, which is very dangerous.
I have also written many times about the problem of cleaning blood vessels, not to mention salvia tablets and notoginseng powder, even it is difficult to solve the problem by taking statins, because once this plaque is formed, it is difficult to reverse, and if you want to take some medicine, you can completely eliminate it, let alone even think about it. Why?
Let's first understand how carotid plaque is formed.
For example, this artery is like a water pipe used at home, the water pipe will rust after a long time, and this blood vessel will have "blood rust" after a long time, that is, the atherosclerotic plaque formed by lipid deposition in the blood. At the carotid bifurcation and initiation of the carotid artery, some oxidized lipids are more likely to be deposited there because of the slow blood flow, which can lead to the formation of carotid plaque. The danger of this plaque is that it may continue to grow and block the blood vessels, and the unstable plaque may rupture and block the blood vessels directly. In short, the above patients are not wrong to worry, the most feared thing about carotid plaque is blood vessel blockage.
So what to do?
We usually clean up the rust in the water pipe, generally with some cleaning agents to wash, or rely on gas purging, liquid flushing, cleaning brushes, etc., obviously these methods are not applicable to fragile blood vessels. Unless the blood vessel has been blocked, that is, a blood clot has formed, rather than a simple plaque, some means may need to be used.
The first is thrombolysis, which is equivalent to cleaning the rust in the water pipe with a chemical cleaning agent, but some thrombolytic drugs are used here, that is, drugs that dissolve blood clots by promoting fibrinolysis, commonly used drugs such as streptokinase, urokinase, alteplase, etc. However, this treatment method has a time window requirement, and it is generally required that thrombolysis should be received within 3 hours after the occurrence of myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction, and the longest should not exceed 6 hours, and thrombolysis can also be achieved after 6 hours, but it will affect the treatment effect and prognosis.
The second is the stent, which is a more violent surgical means, that is, a catheter is used to implant the stent into the blocked or narrowed arterial blood vessels, and then to quickly dredge the blocked blood vessels, restore the purpose of normal blood flow, the method is simple and crude, but the effect is immediate, especially suitable for the emergency rescue of patients with acute myocardial infarction, the faster the operation, the better the effect.
These two methods may be the only effective way to unclog blood vessels at present, but they are only for cases where the blood vessels have been severely narrowed or blocked, and if there are only atherosclerotic plaques and the degree of vascular stenosis is not severe, these methods are not used. For patients with carotid plaque, the most important thing is to delay the growth of plaque as much as possible, stabilize the plaque, and prevent rupture and blockage of blood vessels. After all, not all plaques will clog blood vessels, as long as they can be controlled well, they can live a long life.
So how do you control the progression of plaques? Are these salvia tablets and Panax notoginseng powder useful for plaque control?
First, let's talk about the efficacy of this salvia slices and Panax notoginseng powder.
The reason why middle-aged and elderly people prefer these two kinds of traditional Chinese medicine is probably because the effect of this salvia slices and Panax notoginseng powder has been infinitely amplified, which can lower blood pressure, lipids, and the key is to open blood vessels and prevent cardiovascular diseases.
However, do Danshen tablets and Panax notoginseng powder really have such a curative effect?
First of all, I want to explain that this salvia and notoginseng are both Chinese herbal medicines, not health products, even if they are taken symptomatically, you must follow the doctor's instructions. As for who is suitable to take it, and whether patients with carotid plaque can use it, it depends on their specific efficacy.
- Danshen tablets: It has the effect of invigorating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, regulating qi and relieving pain.
- Panax notoginseng powder: It has the effects of blood circulation and blood stasis, swelling and pain relief, hemostasis and blood replenishment.
In this way, the effects of the two are actually very similar, and their effects on blood vessels are mainly based on their effects on blood circulation and blood stasis. For example, the commonly used compound salvia tablets in the cardiovascular field are composed of notoginseng, salvia and borneol, which are mainly used for patients with coronary heart disease. As for the effects of lowering blood pressure and blood lipids, there are indeed studies that have found that the active ingredients contained in them have certain effects, but they are limited to research and lack clinical practice.
Therefore, no matter how good Danshen tablets and Panax notoginseng powder are, it is not recommended to take them for long-term use for prevention and health care, especially for patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia. If you do have coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, etc., you can take it according to the doctor's instructions, but pay attention to control the dosage and beware of possible side effects.
Second, let's talk about the problem of controlling the progression of plaques.
In fact, carotid plaque is not a disease, especially for the elderly, it is very common, it is a natural product of aging, but there is no problem in the light case, and the heavy one should be vigilant. In any case, controlling the progression of plaques is a top priority. As for how to control it, it is still necessary to start from two points: life intervention and medication.
1. Life intervention: This is actually a cliché, suitable for all cardiovascular high-risk groups, requiring a light diet, low salt, low fat and low sugar, moderate exercise, develop a good habit of exercising every day, quit smoking and drinking, regular work and rest, avoid staying up late, combine work and rest, avoid overwork, maintain a peaceful mind, maintain a healthy weight, etc.
2. Drug treatment: The key to controlling plaque is also to control LDL cholesterol levels, so the basic medication is statins, which can not only lower cholesterol, but also anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, stabilize plaque, and be regarded as the first line of defense to prevent thrombosis, generally requiring patients with carotid artery stenosis of more than 50% to take statin drugs to treat and reduce LDL cholesterol to below 1.8mmol/L to prevent further development of plaque.