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Aunt Xiaofang is 56 years old this year is a retired teacher, she has always paid attention to health, insisted on going to bed early and getting up early, eating a light diet, and eating a few cucumbers every day, one day last year, Aunt Xiaofang suddenly felt chest tightness and shortness of breath after taking dance classes, accompanied by faint chest pain, her family saw that she was pale, short of breath, and a little trance, knowing that the situation was not good, and quickly sent her to the hospital.
After a series of examinations such as electrocardiogram, echocardiography, coronary artery, CTA, etc., we found that Aunt Xiaofang suffered from coronary heart disease, with more than 75% stenosis of the left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery, which is a severe stenosis.
Faced with Aunt Xiaofang's question, I patiently explained to her: "Auntie, we have diagnosed your condition clearly, you do suffer from coronary heart disease, which is an atherosclerotic disease, after the intima of blood vessels is damaged, lipids, inflammatory cells, etc. are deposited in the damaged area, forming plaques, resulting in narrowing of the vascular lumen and affecting the blood supply to the myocardium. Diabetes and other risk factors, although a light diet is beneficial to prevent cardiovascular disease, but the consumption of cucumber alone cannot prevent the occurrence and progression of atherosclerosis. ＂
"But doctor, I saw on the Internet and in the circle of friends that cucumbers can soften blood vessels and remove vascular garbage, is this all a lie?" Aunt Xiaofang asked in disbelief.
I told her: "Auntie, your question is very good, most of the statements on the Internet similar to 'cucumber cleaning blood vessels' lack scientific basis, although cucumber is rich in water, dietary fiber, vitamins and other nutrients, and has certain health care effects, but it is not a magical 'blood vessel washing' holy product, there is no clinical research evidence that eating cucumber can reverse the atherosclerotic plaque that has formed, in other words, no matter how much cucumber you eat, you can't wash away the lipids and plaque deposited on the blood vessel wall. ＂
"Then I have insisted on eating cucumbers for the past year, wouldn't I have eaten them in vain? I knew that cucumbers were useless, so I wouldn't have bothered to do that," Aunt Xiaofang looked very frustrated.
"I can't say that," I comforted her, "eating cucumbers in moderation is still good for the body, cucumbers contain dietary fiber that helps lower cholesterol, vitamin C has antioxidant effects, potassium can lower blood pressure, in general, eating cucumbers often has a certain positive significance for cardiovascular health, but it is only a part of a healthy lifestyle, it cannot be deified as a panacea for all diseases, to prevent coronary heart disease, eating cucumbers alone is far from enough." ＂
I further stressed to her: "In order to truly prevent coronary heart disease, it is necessary to develop good living habits, do not smoke, drink less, control weight, eat a reasonable diet, exercise moderately, and actively prevent and treat chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia; if necessary, take aspirin, statins, lipid-regulating drugs and other drugs according to the doctor's instructions, only comprehensive prevention and treatment, strict management of risk factors, can curb the progression of atherosclerosis, relying on blind superstition of a so-called 'blood vessel-cleaning' food, will only delay the disease, the gains outweigh the losses." ＂
Aunt Xiaofang nodded thoughtfully, she realized that her wrong concept of health had posed a threat to her health, "Doctor, thank you for your careful explanation, I decided to get rid of the bad habit of only eating cucumbers, follow your advice, and cooperate with the treatment, I believe that with your help, my coronary heart disease will be controlled, and I will no longer believe in home remedies in the future, and I will tell my friends around me not to be deceived by health rumors." ＂
I smiled with relief when I saw Aunt Xiaofang's sudden realization, and her transformation gave me a lot of encouragement, and I realized that as doctors, we should not only treat diseases, but also make a difference in spreading health knowledge and improving the health literacy of the whole people.
If you are overly superstitious about the miraculous effect of a certain food, you are likely to put the cart before the horse, ignore the real cause and risk factors of the disease, delay the diagnosis and treatment, and cause irreparable losses.
In the cardiology outpatient clinic, I often meet patients who ask about health secrets similar to "cucumber to clean blood vessels", which often reflects the lack and misunderstanding of the public's knowledge about the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, in fact, atherosclerosis is a long-term, slow and complex process, and eating a few cucumbers alone obviously cannot stop the occurrence and development of lesions, tomatoes, apples, Other foods such as onions have also been rumored to have the miraculous effect of "cleansing blood vessels", but they lack scientific basis, and the best way to deal with rumors is to use knowledge to debunk them and reason to defeat them.
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