[이데일리 이순용 기자] According to the long-term forecast of the Korea Meteorological Administration, this summer is expected to be slightly hotter than last year. Temperatures higher than last year are expected to continue until August. One of the diseases that must be taken care of in the hot summer is ‘cardiovascular disease’.
This is because, when you sweat due to the heat, the water in your body decreases, and at this time, the viscosity of the blood increases, which increases blood clots in the blood vessels, which can cause acute myocardial infarction. In addition, the process of dilating peripheral blood vessels to dissipate heat increases the load on the heart, which can lead to a very dangerous situation for the elderly or those with heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart failure.
As such, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction, has been continuously increasing in recent years, and if the golden hour is exceeded, the probability of death increases and there are many cases of sequelae disorders. In particular, the number of patients with cardiovascular disease increases rapidly from those in their 40s, and the proportion of patients in their 40s and 60s among domestic myocardial infarction patients accounts for more than 60% of the total (as of 2020). Therefore, it is important to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease in advance if you have risk factors or a medical history in your 40s or older.
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◇ The first step in preventing cardiovascular disease, be careful if you have a prior disease such as ‘diabetes’ or ‘high blood pressure’
Cardiovascular disease, which is the second leading cause of death in Korea after cancer, should be paid more attention to as the prevalence of antecedent diseases such as diabetes and hypertension increases as the elderly enter the elderly. In fact, if we look at the prevalence of diabetes in Korea, it exceeds 10% for men from their 40s and from 50s for women. Studies have shown that adults with diabetes have a 2- to 4-fold increased risk of coronary artery disease and a 3- to 7-fold increase in mortality from coronary artery disease compared to adults without diabetes. Hypertensive patients experienced cardiovascular disease five years earlier than normal people. In order to prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, it is important to continuously prevent and manage underlying diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, which are major risk factors.
◇ Effective with proper lifestyle management
In addition, in order to prevent cardiovascular disease, it is necessary to improve bad lifestyle habits. Ignoring and negligent management of bad lifestyle habits, such as smoking and incorrect eating habits, are a major threat to heart health. Obesity, smoking, drinking, and lack of exercise are the causes of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes, which are precursors of cardiovascular disease, which in turn lead to cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease has a clear link between the preceding disease and lifestyle, so it is important to manage it in advance through the practice of a healthy lifestyle.
Representative lifestyle habits for preventing cardiovascular disease include: ▲ Be sure to quit smoking ▲ Limit alcohol to one or two drinks a day ▲ Eat fresh and balanced food and eat plenty of vegetables and fish ▲ Exercise for 30 minutes or more every day if possible ▲ Appropriate weight and maintaining waist circumference.
◇ Consider counseling on low-dose aspirin for patients with a history of cardiovascular disease
If you have cardiovascular disease risk factors or have a medical history, you can consider taking low-dose aspirin in consultation with your doctor. Taking low-dose aspirin is expected to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in high-risk patients for cardiovascular disease (primary preventive effect) and to prevent cardiovascular-related death (secondary preventive effect) in patients with a history of cardiovascular disease by inhibiting thrombus formation. can
According to the study, when low-dose aspirin was taken to prevent cardiovascular disease, non-fatal myocardial infarction was reduced by 23%, major coronary artery disease was 18%, and death and serious vascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke were reduced by 12%. appeared to be Therefore, the guidelines of the American and European Heart Association recommend the use of low-dose aspirin in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease when the risk of bleeding is not high and there are no clear contraindications. ,
However, the older the age, the higher the probability of taking the drug, so the interaction between drugs should be considered. Anticoagulants, thrombolytics, other platelet aggregation inhibitors, hemostatic agents, and some antidiabetic drugs may increase the risk of bleeding when taken together with low-dose aspirin.
Professor Lee Kyung-hoon of the Department of Cardiology at Gachon University Gil Hospital said, “If there are risk factors such as high blood pressure or diabetes for cardiovascular disease, it is important to prevent and manage it wisely in advance by following a good lifestyle. It is important not to forget to take one tablet every day, so it is also helpful for family members to take care of it or set an alarm. If discontinuing low-dose aspirin is considered in unavoidable circumstances, it must be decided through consultation with a specialist, paying attention to the rebound effect.”
