Li Ming, 52 years old, is a busy office worker with high work pressure, frequent overtime, and irregular pace of life. However, he didn't realize that his body was changing.
Until late one night, Li Ming suddenly felt a sharp chest pain, and he tried to endure the pain, but soon he lost consciousness. After emergency treatment, doctors confirmed that his heart had stopped beating, and despite the best efforts of the doctors, he eventually passed away.
Heart failure is a serious heart condition that prevents the heart from pumping blood effectively, resulting in insufficient oxygen supply to all parts of the body.
Early detection and early treatment are essential to prevent heart failure.
So, how can we identify the symptoms of heart failure early?
Doctors remind that the following 5 symptoms require a high degree of vigilance:
1. Shortness of breath: This is the most common and earliest symptom of heart failure. Shortness of breath may manifest early with activity, and as the disease progresses, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea may occur, even at rest.
2. Fatigue and fatigue: Patients with heart failure often feel fatigue, and their activities become laborious, and they feel tired after a little activity.
3. Edema of the lower limbs: heart failure leads to venous congestion, obstruction of blood return, and easy to cause edema of both lower limbs. In the early stage, it usually manifests as ankle edema at night or after standing for a long time, and generalized edema may occur in the late stage.
4. Heart palpitations and chest tightness: patients with heart failure can feel palpitation, chest tightness, palpitations and other discomforts, and sometimes arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, etc.
5. Cough and pink frothy sputum: this indicates pulmonary congestion or pulmonary edema, which is more common in patients with left heart failure and needs to be paid enough attention.
For patients with diagnosed heart failure, it is necessary to follow the doctor's advice, take medication regularly, and have regular check-ups to avoid deterioration of the condition.
Of course, prevention is better than cure. We should start young and cultivate a healthy lifestyle to stay away from the threat of heart failure.
Doctors recommend doing the following:
1. Reasonable diet: food should be diversified and balanced nutrition, reduce the intake of high-salt and high-fat foods, and appropriately increase foods rich in potassium and magnesium, such as vegetables and fruits.
2. Moderate exercise: Adhere to moderate aerobic exercise, such as walking, jogging, swimming, etc., which can improve heart function and enhance physical fitness. But when exercising, you should do what you can and avoid overexertion.
3. Quit smoking and limit alcohol: Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption are both high-risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, and they should be quit as soon as possible.
4. Control weight: Overweight and obesity will increase the burden on the heart, so it is necessary to control the weight within the normal range through a reasonable diet and moderate exercise.
5. Manage emotions: Maintaining an optimistic, positive mood and avoiding excessive tension, anxiety or depression can go a long way towards heart health.
In addition, some underlying diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc., are also risk factors for heart failure. People suffering from these diseases should do a good job in daily management, regular re-examination, and control the disease in a stable state.
Preventing heart failure requires us to take proactive action to protect our heart health. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, moderate aerobic exercise, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol, regular check-ups, and effective stress management are all important measures to prevent heart failure.
With these measures, we can reduce our risk of heart failure and maintain healthy heart function. Let's cherish our hearts and move towards a healthy future!
What do you think about this?