Why have heart diseases increased and what are the treatment methods?
Cardiovascular Surgery Specialist Assoc. Dr. Mehmet Güzeloğlu answered the frequently asked questions on the subject of "Heart Health".
Why have heart health problems become so common, the age rate is decreasing, even though he is an athlete and lives very healthy. People suffering from heart health problems are increasing day by day. Why is all this happening?
Yes, of course, there are a number of reasons why it has become so widespread, one of them, and also the most important one, is smoking. While smoking is decreasing day by day in developed countries, on the contrary, smoking is increasing in developing countries such as Turkey. Its use is increasing day by day. Smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases approximately 2-3 times more than a non-smoker. But still, people should not continue smoking by saying that they already smoke and their risk of this disease has increased. Because in people who smoke and then quit smoking, the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases decreases by approximately 40% compared to people who do not quit. That's why we say that no matter what the harm is, it's better to stop using it as soon as possible.
Another factor is unhealthy and irregular nutrition, sedentary lifestyle and the obesity disease they bring. Obesity is a very serious factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Especially in people who gain weight from their belly area, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases is much higher than other people. Unhealthy nutrition brings with it an increase in bad cholesterol.
For all these reasons we have mentioned, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases is increasing day by day, and the age of occurrence is also decreasing. In other words, one of the leading causes of death in Turkey, as in the world, is cardiovascular diseases.
Every year, approximately 200,000 people in Turkey lose their lives due to the consequences of cardiovascular diseases. This situation is very serious because it means approximately 3-4 people die every 10 minutes.
Although cardiovascular disease is a very serious disease, it is life-threatening. It is a preventable disease by changing the shape and reducing some risks.
One of the biggest factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases is high blood pressure. There are 15 million blood pressure patients in Turkey and only 40% of them. Approximately 8-10% of all blood pressure patients know about this disease and receive effective treatment, that is, they receive treatment to control their blood pressure. Unfortunately, the rate is very low. Nevertheless, being aware of blood pressure disease and receiving effective treatment is very important in reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Also, unfortunately, genetic predispositions are very important in cardiovascular diseases. For example, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases is 4-5 times higher in people who have diabetes in their family or themselves, and this disease is seen in an average of 50-55% of diabetics. Therefore, people should be aware of their diabetes and keep it at appropriate levels under the supervision of a doctor. It is also important to continue the treatment regularly.
In short, the person controls his/her diseases such as blood pressure and sugar and transitions to a regular lifestyle, makes the necessary adjustments in his/her diet, pays attention to his cholesterol, does exercises appropriate to his age and stays away from smoking. If it stops, it significantly reduces the risk of experiencing bad consequences.
“Not every chest pain or back pain means heart disease! However, this does not mean that the pain is unimportant, we insist that these types of pain be seen by a physician, especially if they are ongoing.”
What symptoms do patients present with heart diseases?
One of the most striking symptoms of heart health is chest pain. The most important symptom of occlusion in the cardiovascular vessels is the pain that we doctors call anginopetinics in medicine, which is colloquially known as a feeling of pressure and squeezing in the chest, which usually occurs with exertion or emotional stress, lasts 3-5 minutes, and can sometimes spread to the left arm, jaw or back. . However, diabetic patients may sometimes not be able to feel this chest pain due to nerve damage. That's why cardiovascular diseases are especially common in the diabetic group. can follow the trace. Apart from this, other than chest pain, they can sometimes complain of stomach ache, because patients may mistake heart disease for stomach pain.
So, what is done to a patient who has not applied for any reason but has come for a routine check-up?
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Apart from these symptoms, there is the stress test, which is one of the tests performed to determine whether a patient who has come for a routine check-up has any heart disease. If the patient has a problem, he/she can get tired very quickly in this test. The sad part is that it does not show any symptoms but suddenly. Patients presenting with heart attack. Because unfortunately, 20% of patients who have a heart attack can have sad consequences before they even reach the hospital, and sometimes even if they reach the hospital, 8-10% of them may die in the hospital despite the most effective treatment.
In order to avoid all these, when we have even the slightest complaints such as premature fatigue, stomach ache, arm pain, chest pain, palpitations, we immediately see a heart doctor and have it checked, and if there is any problem, the best thing we can do is to prevent all misfortunes with early diagnosis. .
So we tell our patients, listen to your body, love your heart, and when your complaints start, be sure to get checked by a doctor without prolonging this process. Health cannot be neglected.
What are the diagnostic methods for heart diseases?
First, a detailed history of the patient is taken, then, after the necessary physical examination, some blood tests are performed. We do echo, which we call electrocardiogram and cardiac ultrasound. If these examinations raise our suspicions that there may be a cardiovascular occlusion, if our suspicions are high both in the history, in the tests and in the examination, we can refer the patient directly to cardiac angiography. But sometimes there are situations where we are stuck in between. For them, the stress test, which is our first examination before angiography, cannot be applied to every patient. In such patients, we also perform a test called myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, which measures the stress in the heart. If there are signs of vascular occlusion as a result of these tests, then we refer the patient to angiography. Angiography already gives us the clear result.
Can angiography be done for every heartache?
Angiography is not necessary for every heartache. Angiography only If at the end of all the examinations of the patient it leads us to a cardiovascular occlusion, we only apply it when we need to get the definitive result.
What is angiography?
What we mean by angiography is a heart angiography. that is, the vascular imaging method. We enter the arterial system with a needle, either using the artery in our wrist or the main artery in our groin area that feeds our leg. And with a wire we send through that needle, we reach the vessels that feed the heart, which we call coronary arteries. And we inject a dye into those veins, and while applying this dye, we take photographs of those veins. Thanks to this examination, we clearly see whether there is a blockage in the veins. And this method is not a method that should be feared as much as it used to be. Because, for example, our patients who do surgery on the wrist wait a few hours after the procedure while sitting on the couch and reading the newspaper, just to ensure that the entered area is closed. During this waiting period, only a wristband is worn on the wrist where the procedure was performed.
In your opinion, what is the importance of technology in heart diseases?
Technology is always important in the health sector, However, it is even more important for the branches of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery because we are two branches that grow with the speed of development of technology. Because the risks in the services we provide to the patient are much greater, therefore, thanks to the blessings that technology provides us, these risks are further minimized.
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