(Health Korea News / Jaeho Byun) The risk of cardiovascular disease increases during the transitional period, when the mornings and evenings are quite chilly. This is because the blood vessels suddenly contract as the balance of the autonomic nervous system is disrupted by the rapid temperature change. The number of patients with cardiovascular disease begins to increase in October, the peak of autumn, and the highest incidence occurs in December and January.
Cardiovascular disease occurs when the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart are blocked for various reasons, preventing smooth blood supply. Waste materials such as cholesterol accumulate in the blood vessels, narrowing the blood vessels. Representative examples include myocardial infarction and angina.
It is a well-known fact that cardiovascular disease is a dangerous disease, ranking second in Korea after cancer and first in the world. Cardiovascular disease can suddenly worsen and threaten health, even if it is normally fine, and in severe cases, it can lead to sudden cardiac death.
The heart has muscles. The heart functions properly only when blood is supplied smoothly through blood vessels called coronary arteries. If these blood vessels are blocked, the myocardium dies and part of the heart’s function stops. This is called myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction occurs when the coronary arteries are suddenly blocked. It is different from angina, which causes chest pain when the coronary arteries gradually narrow and blood is not properly supplied to the heart. According to the ‘Current Status of Heart Disease Treatment’ announced by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the number of myocardial infarction patients in Korea increased by 19.6% over the five years from 2018 to 132,041 as of 2022. It is expected to have increased even more last year.
When myocardial infarction occurs, severe chest pain occurs first, and then shortness of breath, chest tightness, and a squeezing pain are felt. In some cases, indigestion or a feeling of suffocation may occur. If this pain lasts more than 10 minutes, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible to receive examination and treatment. Treatment is necessary within 2 hours, and if it lasts longer, life may be in danger.
About half of myocardial infarction patients do not have any symptoms. Many cases are not discovered even during health checkups. In addition to lifestyle management for prevention, rapid diagnosis and treatment are most important when myocardial infarction occurs.
The key to treating myocardial infarction is time. The sooner you treat, the more heart muscle you can save and preserve. When symptoms appear, the blocked blood vessels should be reopened as quickly as possible to restore blood flow.
There are three main types of treatment: surgical, drug, and surgical. In general, surgical treatment is the most commonly performed because it can quickly widen blocked blood vessels. Representative examples include balloon angioplasty and stent (metal mesh) insertion. This procedure involves passing a guide wire through the blocked blood vessel, widening the blood vessel with a balloon, and inserting a metal mesh called a stent. In cases where surgical treatment is not easy, thrombolysis may be performed. Surgery is performed when the procedure is not anatomically easy. Coronary artery bypass grafting is performed to bypass blocked blood vessels and maintain blood flow through the femoral vein or femoral artery.
In order to prevent myocardial infarction, daily life management and disease management are important. It is necessary to eat well, sleep well, and exercise consistently for more than 30 minutes a day. It is necessary to consistently manage major risk factors for myocardial infarction, such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and other heart diseases. In particular, if there is a family history, you should be more careful. It is known that if there is a family history of death from heart disease, the risk of sudden death due to heart disease is 3 to 4 times higher.
Unlike other serious diseases such as cancer, myocardial infarction can be recovered in most cases if treated promptly, but there are many cases where the treatment period is missed due to insufficient initial response. I emphasize this once again, if severe chest pain occurs, it is best to call 119 without asking any questions and go straight to the hospital emergency room. (Written by Professor Jae-ho Byun, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea)
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Source: www.hkn24.com
