True aging may not begin with wrinkles, blemishes, and a loss of stamina. Once the blood vessels in your body "age", they can affect various systems and organs throughout the body.
In real life, some people's blood vessels age much faster than they age. It is common to see this in hospital outpatient clinics, where a 60-year-old person goes for a check-up because he is not feeling well, and the doctor says, "Your blood vessels are equivalent to those of a 90-year-old." ”
In fact, this is "premature vascular aging".
Health Times Chart
6 "Signals" of Premature Vascular Aging
Vascular aging is generally more difficult to detect, but there are still traces of related signals in the body. Feng Gaoke, deputy chief physician of the Cardiovascular Hospital of Hubei Provincial People's Hospital, introduced in an article in the Health Times in 2024 that the aging of arteries is mainly manifested by arterial arteriosclerosis, which is due to the thickening of the arterial intima and the formation of arterial plaques with age and disease, which reduces the elasticity of the arteries and the symptoms of arterial sclerosis.
Premature vascular aging: The body often has the following 6 signals:
1. A dull mind
I often feel that my hair is heavy and stuffy (there is a feeling of tightness and pressure on my head), dizziness, headache, often accompanied by tinnitus, and blurred vision. If the symptoms are frequent, it means that the degree of vascular aging is more severe, which may seriously affect the patient's life.
2. Memory loss
Brain atrophy occurs when the blood vessels in the brain deteriorate and the blood supply is not adequate. At the same time, they feel memory loss, often forgetful, become demented, and easily forget names, numbers, and recent events. Usually distracted and unresponsive.
3. Numbness in the limbs
Numbness, weakness, paresthesias in one limb or part of a limb. This often happens because the blood vessels are narrowed and the blood supply is impaired, resulting in an insufficient blood supply to the hands and feet. This is a common condition of arteriosclerosis, and in severe cases, it can progress to hemiplegia.
4. Tightness in the chest and shortness of breath
If there is often tightness in the chest, a feeling of pressure, poor breathing, and shortness of breath, it is because the oxygen supply in the lungs is insufficient. This may be caused by the aging of blood vessels in the lungs.
Health Times Chart
5. Exertion-related chest pain
If there is a stenosis of the heart arteries, when the myocardial cells cannot obtain sufficient blood and oxygen during exertion, the blood vessels will be hypoxic due to insufficient blood supply, and related chest tightness and chest pain will occur.
6. Leg pain, claudication
Artery stenosis and occlusion of the lower limbs, which in turn leads to chronic ischemia of the limbs, which causes coldness and pain in the legs, and limp in the legs when walking, which are all manifestations of the aging of the arteries of the lower limbs, which should be paid attention to.
If you feel that there are any of the above signs of vascular aging, you can go to the hospital for further examination in time to help you judge. Under the doctor's diagnosis, the high-risk factors of vascular aging, such as blood glucose, blood lipids, uric acid, and blood viscosity, can also be examined, and the lower vascular examination can also be done, and the lower functional examination can also be done such as non-invasive vascular elasticity analysis. ①
Do 10 fewer things and your blood vessels age a little slower
Ruan Lei, a physician at Tongji Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, published an article on the hospital's official account in 2022 that blood vessels connect all tissues and organs in the body, and some organs in the body have a very rich blood supply, such as the brain, kidneys, and heart. Therefore, there has always been a saying that "vascular aging, all diseases occur together", and many situations in life will accelerate vascular aging. ②
There are 10 things you can do to stay away from your life and make your blood vessels age a little slower.
1. Blood vessels are afraid of "smoke"
Be sure to quit smoking. Nicotine, a harmful substance in tobacco, can induce repeated contraction of vascular endothelium, resulting in endothelial damage, accelerating the process of arteriosclerosis, and causing early coronary heart disease and other arteriosclerotic diseases. ③
Also, stay away from secondhand smoke. All forms of tobacco, including secondhand smoke, can cause inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, prothrombotic states, and activation of the sympathetic nervous system, severely impairing cardiovascular health. ⑦
2. Blood vessels are afraid of "high"
High blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia are more or less related to cardiovascular overload, and the evolution of the "three highs" in the end may lead to serious complications such as coronary heart disease and stroke.
Zuo Xiaoxia/photo
3. Blood vessels are afraid of "saltiness"
Eating salty, oily, and sweet, coupled with less exercise, a high-fat and high-sugar diet can easily make people fat, and a high-salt diet is related to high blood pressure, which greatly increases the risk of blood vessel blockage.
4. Blood vessels are afraid of "cold"
Shao Qin, director of the subspecialty of hypertension and cardiac rehabilitation in the Department of Cardiology of Shanghai Chest Hospital, introduced in an article in Health Times in 2022 that in order to conserve heat and maintain normal body temperature, the human body will constrict blood vessels and reduce heat dissipation. Vasoconstriction will cause blood pressure to increase, even vasospasm, and increase the load of the heart, and will also affect the flow of blood in the blood vessels, which will cause cerebral hemorrhage, myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases after the blood pressure rises. ④
5. Blood vessels are afraid of "wine"
According to the Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiometabolic Diseases with a Healthy Lifestyle, excessive alcohol consumption increases the risk of death and cardiovascular diseases, including atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction and heart failure. ⑤
Health Times Chart
6. Blood vessels are afraid of "sitting"
People who are sedentary and inactive for a long time will slow down blood circulation, increase blood viscosity, and weak myocardial contraction, and over time, arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease will be accompanied. ⑥
7. Blood vessels are afraid of "fullness"
No matter what kind of food, it should be full of seven or eight points, and never overfilled. Because eating too much can easily lead to obesity and increase the burden on the cardiovascular system.
8. Blood vessels are afraid of "boiling"
According to the Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention of Cardiometabolic Diseases with a Healthy Lifestyle, short sleep time increases the risk of hypertension, coronary heart disease and heart failure, while the risk of cardiovascular disease is significantly reduced in people who maintain 7~8 hours of adequate sleep time and good quality every day. ⑥
9. Blood vessels are afraid of "pressure"
Long-term mental tension and anxiety will inevitably cause sympathetic nerve excitation, vasoconstriction and spasm, and at the same time, vascular pressure will also increase, resulting in vascular endothelial damage and lipid deposition leading to arteriosclerosis. ⑧
10. Blood vessels are afraid of "fat"
Metabolic syndrome, represented by abdominal obesity, is easy to increase the cardiovascular burden, causing a series of problems such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia, leading to early arteriosclerosis. ③
This article is synthesized from:
(1)2024-04-19Health Times "[Silver Age Health] Blood vessels also have an age, learn these and let it embark on the road of reverse growth!"
(2)2022-02-11 Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
(3)2023-05-28Public Health Journal "Do these things well, blood vessels age slowly"
(4)2022-2-25Health Times "Blood Vessels Should Also Be Anti-Premature Aging"
(5) Gu Dongfeng, Weng Jianping, Lu Xiangfeng.Guidelines for the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases by healthy lifestyle in China[J].Chinese Journal of Circulation,2020,35(03):209-230.
(6)2017-02-14Health Times
⑦Cagigas, Maria L., Stephen M. Twigg, and Luigi Fontana. "Ten tips for promoting cardiometabolic health and slowing cardiovascular aging." (2024): ehad853.
(8) 2013-10-17Health Times "Anti-arteriosclerosis is a lifelong thing"
Editor: Ren Xuan
Reviewer: Lu Yang