Aunt Zhang, 70 years old, was diagnosed with hypertension more than ten years ago, and regularly took nifedipine sustained-release tablets to lower blood pressure on weekdays, and her daily blood pressure can be controlled below 140/90mmHg, her heart rate is 70~80 beats/min, and she has no habits of smoking or drinking.
In the past 1 week, Aunt Zhang has repeatedly experienced symptoms of chest tightness, especially after emotional agitation or activities, and each uncomfortable symptom can last from a few minutes to 1 hour.
At the time of consultation, the doctor observed his tongue and found that the tongue was dark purple, pale, pulse shortness and weakness, and the results of electrocardiogram examination showed sinus rhythm and ST-T changes, and he was diagnosed with ischemic heart disease and recommended hospitalization.
After being admitted to the hospital, the doctor completed the relevant examinations for Aunt Zhang, and performed coronary CT examination to find severe stenosis of the lumen of the mixed plaque of the left anterior descending artery and mild stenosis of the lumen of the mixed plaque of the right coronary artery.
After discussing the condition with Aunt Zhang and her family, the doctor recommended that coronary drug-eluting stent implantation be given on the basis of oral medication.
After treatment, Aunt Zhang's repeated chest tightness symptoms were basically relieved and disappeared, and the electrocardiogram improved compared with the previous ischemia, and all indicators improved.
The doctor reminded that ischemic heart disease is a common disease in cardiovascular medicine, especially in the elderly, and patients may experience chest tightness, shortness of breath, and even angina pectoris.
For patients with ischemic heart disease, it is necessary to pay attention to strengthening treatment, if the patient only has moderate stenosis of blood vessels, drug therapy should be strengthened, such as oral antiplatelet, lipid-lowering, plaque-stabilizing drugs, to prevent the occurrence of myocardial infarction, if the patient is clear that there is severe stenosis of blood vessels, coronary intervention surgery should be given as soon as possible.
Traditional Chinese medicine says that the heart opens to the tongue, and the tongue is the seedling of the heart.
The tongue is the "window" of the heart, and changes in the tongue, to a certain extent, can reflect the health of the heart.
A normal and healthy heart with a ruddy tongue, soft tongue, sensitive sense of smell and normal sense of taste.
When there is a problem with heart health, it will lead to poor flow of qi and blood, and these 4 abnormalities may appear on the tongue, so it is recommended to have a heart examination as soon as possible!
If you have a bad heart, there are 4 types of abnormalities in your tongue
01 Redness of the tip of the tongue or tongue
Redness on the tip of the tongue is largely related to heart dysfunction.
For people with a bad heart, yin deficiency is easy to cause internal heat, resulting in accelerated blood heat circulation, which in turn leads to congestion of tongue blood vessels, which is manifested as red color of the tip of the tongue or tongue, and less tongue coating.
Patients often have tachycardia, or symptoms such as poor sleep, palpitations, dry mouth, and cleft tongue.
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02 The color of the tongue is purple
The tongue is purple, also known as bruising and purple tongue in traditional Chinese medicine, indicating that there is blood stasis in the body.
About 90% of people with bruising tongue have various chronic diseases in their bodies, and the common causes are slow blood flow and increased blood viscosity, which can generally be seen in patients with coronary heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, chronic liver disease, etc.
When the pumping function of the heart is impaired, it will lead to poor blood circulation and related hypoxia symptoms, patients can manifest the tongue color blue, dark purple, and even spots, and may also be accompanied by palpitations, chest pain, dizziness, headache, confusion and other symptoms, common in cor pulmonale.
When a patient's tongue is blue and purple, a high level of suspicion should be maintained for heart disease, especially cardiovascular thrombosis, which can lead to sudden death if left untreated.
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03 Redness of the tip of the tongue or tongue color
The normal tongue is usually pale red, and there is a white tongue coating on it, if the color of the tongue coating is pale, it is necessary to be alert to heart and blood deficiency and anemia heart disease.
When the patient's cardiac hematopoietic function is impaired or due to heart disease, the blood circulation in the body is insufficient, and the heart blood is deficient, which can lead to the color of the tongue coating, commonly known as pale white tongue, not only the white tongue coating, but also the patient can also be accompanied by a series of manifestations such as palpitations, fatigue, paleness, and weak pulse.
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04 Ecchymosis of the tongue
Ecchymosis of the tongue refers mainly to ecchymosis in the area of the sublingual veins, which is a manifestation of poor blood circulation.
If the patient's tongue is diffuse or dark purple, it means that the heart is blocked, and the blood return is blocked, and the veins accumulate to form ecchymosis.
Patients can take oral drugs to warm the heart and vein, such as the commonly used Tongxinluo capsule, compound danshen dripping pill, naoxintong capsule, brevisanthin dripping pill, etc., and can also use Panax notoginseng powder or safflower soaked in water to drink, or conventional aspirin combined with statin antithrombotic therapy.
In addition, it is important to note that ecchymosis appears in different parts of the tongue and corresponds to different internal organs:
- Ecchymosis on both sides of the tongue is suspicious of hepatobiliary stasis.
- Ecchymosis on the tip of the tongue is suspicious of heart and pulse obstruction.
- Ecchymosis in the middle of the tongue, alert to blood stasis in the spleen and stomach.
- Ecchymosis at the base of the tongue, vigilant for scorching blood.
Take care of your heart health, 5 tips
1
Be in a good frame of mind
Maintain a happy mood and avoid excessive anxiety, anger, sadness and other bad emotions.
Bad mood is the enemy of the heart, emotional agitation is one of the important causes of coronary heart disease, when people are angry, blood pressure will rise, myocardial oxygen consumption will increase, may induce acute attack of angina, some patients may even induce acute myocardial infarction.
Therefore, we should pay attention to regulating our emotions in life, vent negative emotions in appropriate ways, and avoid frequent mood swings and long-term accumulation of negative emotions.
You can effectively relieve your bad mood by chatting with friends and family, or exercising, traveling, etc., and you can also relieve daily stress through contemplation and meditation, such as sitting quietly every day, closing your eyes lightly, eliminating distracting thoughts, and focusing on breathing for 5~10 minutes.
2
Rational Healthy Meal
A healthy and balanced diet can help take care of heart health, it is recommended to eat a low-salt and low-fat diet, reduce the intake of saturated fatty acids and sugars, eat more fresh vegetables and fruits, supplement sufficient vitamins and minerals, eat less raw, cold, spicy and other irritating foods, control the daily salt intake within 5g, and eat salmon and anchovies rich in omega-3 fatty acids once a week, which can reduce the risk of death from heart attack by 52%.
In addition, there is also attention to quitting smoking and limiting alcohol, the nicotine in cigarettes will promote blood vessel constriction, can increase the blood cholesterol content, accelerate the atherosclerosis of arteries and blood vessels, and more alcohol will damage heart health, can cause alcoholic heart disease, stroke, liver cirrhosis, tumors and other diseases, but also increase the risk of coronary heart disease, angina, myocardial infarction and other diseases, it is recommended to limit the amount of alcohol per week to reduce the number of alcohol equivalent to 180g, it is best to quit drinking.
3
Get enough sleep
Studies have shown that people who sleep less than 7 hours have a significantly increased risk of heart disease without considering other factors that affect heart health, because the autonomic nervous system of the body is dysfunctional in a state of poor sleep, and symptoms such as chest tightness, palpitation, and breathlessness will occur.
In addition, studies have found that an extra hour of sleep per night in middle-aged people can reduce the risk of coronary artery calcification, one of the main causes of heart disease, by 33%, and sleep deprivation can cause the body to release more stress hormones and increase the chance of arterial inflammation.
Therefore, in order to better prevent heart disease, we must develop a good routine and ensure adequate sleep every day.
4
Leg lifts
Older people can do exercises that elevate their feet two or three times a day, which can be beneficial for heart health.
We can sit or lie down, and raise our feet above our heart for 5~10 minutes each time.
When the feet are raised higher than the heart, the blood in the feet and legs is returned, so that the thighs and calves that have been tense for a long time are in a relaxed state, so that the legs can be fully rested.
At the same time, blood from the legs and feet flows back to the lungs and heart, and the heart can send fresh blood to the legs and feet.
These actions can promote the filling of blood flow in the peripheral blood vessels, increase the pressure of blood return, speed up the speed of blood movement, reduce the pressure of heart output, and also greatly benefit the oxygen supply to the brain.
In addition, people over 40 years old can do stretching exercises before going to bed, which can reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis by 3%, it is recommended to do 10~15 minutes of stretching exercises every day to move muscles and bones, which can enhance the elasticity of muscle tissue around blood vessels and make blood vessel toughness better.
5
Regular medical check-ups
Blood pressure, blood lipids and blood glucose are common risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and it is necessary to monitor them regularly in daily life, and if abnormal conditions are found, they should be intervened and treated in time to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
It is recommended that people over 35 years old measure blood pressure at least once a year, and if conditions permit, blood lipids can be checked every year, if parents have high blood lipids, especially those of the previous generation of parents have let go of stents, had myocardial infarction, and have clear coronary heart disease, it is recommended that the people of the next generation must check blood lipids.
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