Does stress cause heart attack? When is angiography necessary?.. Answers to the 10 most frequently asked questions about cardiovascular diseases and treatment methods…
1. How common are cardiovascular diseases in our country?
Cardiovascular diseases rank first among the causes of death in Turkey, with a rate of 43 percent. According to the Turkish Cardiology Association, cardiovascular disease occurs in 330 thousand new people every year in our country. In order to be protected from cardiovascular diseases, it is necessary to first adopt an active life, eat a Mediterranean diet, not smoke, and problems such as high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure must be taken under control.
2. Does stress cause heart attack?
One of the most curious topics in cardiovascular disease is whether stress has an effect on heart attack. Acute stress, such as a major disaster, the death of a loved one, or a serious financial crisis, does not play a significant role in heart attack. This type of stress, defined as acute stress, can only bring forward the date of an infection that will already occur. On the other hand, chronic stress, depression and anxiety, which are among the important problems of our age, literally invite heart attacks. Therefore, it is useful to regularly do stress-relieving methods such as meditation to prevent heart attack.
3. Why do heart diseases rank first in deaths?
The most important reason for this is the adoption of a sedentary life and fast food type diet today. In addition, cardiovascular diseases are advancing insidiously. So much so that approximately one-third of coronary artery patients die as a result of a sudden heart attack, without knowing that they have this disease. In approximately one-third of the patients, the first symptom occurs in the form of infarction. Therefore, only 25 percent of these patients understand that they have coronary artery disease through symptoms such as chest pain.
4- How do we understand that we have cardiovascular disease?
Prof. Dr. According to Koylan, there is no practical answer to this question. Electrocardiography, which is frequently used, can make a clear diagnosis in only 10 percent of patients. Biochemical examinations can only determine how high the risk is. It is useful in determining whether Thallium test, angiographies, computed tomographies, calcium scoring and other tests that can provide more concrete results also have significant margins of error. Moreover, the cost of these methods is quite high. Therefore, it still remains a question mark what the risk of a person having a heart attack is or whether such a danger will develop in the near future.
5. When to resort to angiography?
Prof. Dr. Koylan points out that coronary angiography is not a diagnostic method. This method should only be used to determine the type of intervention to be performed in the presence of strong evidence indicating cardiovascular disease. “I wonder if there is something wrong with my veins?” According to experts, it is dangerous to have angiography. Because, although rare, this technique can lead to serious bleeding or death.
6. What should a person who suspects heart disease do?
Prof. Dr. Koylan states that they benefit greatly from risk calculations in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. For this reason, risk calculation must be made first and preventive treatments must be applied for the emerging risk factors. Changes to be made in lifestyle constitute the most important measures to be taken.
7. How is it treated?
Coronary artery disease; It can be treated with three methods: medication, stent and bypass. Factors such as the location of the blocked area and how many vessels need to be intervened determine the type of treatment. Today, both emergency bypass and emergency angioplasty have revolutionized the treatment of acute infarction. Especially the primary angioplasty method and opening the blocked vessel with a stent during a heart attack provide very serious benefits. Patients can now live as healthy as if they had never had an infarction after treatment, with very little damage. However, for this, the patient must be transported to the hospital within the first one or two hours after the crisis, if possible.
8. Stent or by-pass?
Today, two methods are most commonly used in cardiovascular disease; stents and bypass surgery. Drug-coated stent technology, in particular, is of great benefit in the treatment of this disease. These stents, also called steel cages, provide drug secretion It can reduce the risk of occlusion of the treated vessel by up to 5 percent. The choice between bypass and stent is determined by the patient's vascular structure. If the blocked vessel can be opened with a stent, this method is preferred first. In cases where no results can be obtained, the bypass method is used.
9. When is drug treatment?
Experts generally resort to drug treatment in cases where bypass cannot be applied. The reason for this is that patients prefer short-term solutions. However, if the patient does not complain of chest pain and there is no problem with heart functions, then there is no point in resorting to bypass or stent methods. Very successful results can be achieved with the drug treatment applied to these patients. In large-scale studies conducted in America, those who received only drug treatment were compared with those who received bypass or stent. As a result of this research, it was revealed that by-pass and stent methods do not have any effect on extending the life of patients.
10. What should be taken into consideration after treatment?
Cardiovascular patients must regulate their lifestyle after treatment. It is possible to live a healthy life by taking simple precautions. The first thing to do for this is to adopt an active life. For example, choosing the stairs instead of the elevator, not using the car for short distances, and walking. According to experts, it is necessary to walk ten thousand steps every day for a healthy life. Smoking should be stopped, plenty of vegetables and fruits should be consumed, and excessively fatty foods should be avoided. In addition, those who suffer from diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol or blood pressure should not forget to keep these risk factors under control.
Prof. Dr. Nevrez Koylan
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