Maintaining a Healthy Heart: The Importance of Regular Medical Follow-Up

September 29th is World Heart Day, which highlights Red September, a month that reinforces the need for heart care. Heart attack, the main disease in this organ, presents around 400 thousand cases per year and an average of two deaths every 10 minutes. 

Luciano Moreira Baracioli, doctor at the Acute Coronary Heart Disease Clinical Unit at the Heart Institute of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP, comments on the main causes of the disease and the precautions that must be taken to avoid it.

Important aspects

Heart attack is the main cause of death from cardiovascular diseases, therefore, according to Baracioli, even with the evolution of treatments, it deserves all the focus on its prevention. “We have to think about risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are among the main things we have to focus on to diagnose and prevent them”, develops.

For the specialist, even with popular awareness about risk factors, individuals do not take proper precautions and only pay attention after the event. In his opinion, there must be regularity in medical monitoring to obtain early diagnoses and prevent the context of a heart attack.

Myths

In the popular imagination, there are many distortions about the disease, which influence the high number of cases and hinder prevention. One of the main myths is that young adults are not at risk of suffering a heart attack, as this only affects elderly people. “There is a greater occurrence as the years go by, especially for the elderly, but there is a heart attack in young adults”, explains Luciano. He also adds that one of the biggest risks for young people is the lack of collateral circulation, a protection that helps when blockage occurs, and this has an impact on larger heart attacks. Furthermore, risk factors, especially smoking and obesity, are the main cause for its occurrence in these individuals.

Another narrative that runs through society is that the risk of heart attack in women is lower than in men. This is because most diagnoses are made by men, however, it is possible to observe that this profile is changing in recent years. According to the doctor, greater female participation in society influenced the increase in cases, as it contributed to the increase in high blood pressure, smoking and stress. Thus, there was an increase in risk factors in women, followed by a greater occurrence of heart attacks in younger women. 

Signs of a heart attack

“There is an obstruction of a vessel called the coronary artery, which nourishes the entire heart muscle. Once this blood flow is interrupted, the main and most frequent symptom is chest pain”, explains the doctor. The symptoms are more frequent pain in the chest and back — especially in the scapula —, which are usually severe. The pain may radiate to the arms and the pit of the stomach. Cold sweat, nausea and shortness of breath, which may not be as obvious, are also common.

The specialist emphasizes the need for treatment soon after the signs appear, as the passage of time compromises the heart muscle: “The important thing is that chest discomfort, whether in the chest or back, that does not have an origin that can be justified in this At this time, it is of fundamental importance that this patient seeks urgent medical care.” He states that the longer the delay in treatment, the greater the chance of sequelae — which he calls muscle death. The patient who survives the disease has damaged heart muscle and this leads to a weakening of the heart pump and an increase in the area of ​​the heart. As a result, the patient becomes more tired and short of breath with simple daily exercises, such as a light walk.

Ways of prevention

According to the specialist, the individual must develop healthy habits as a way of preventing heart attacks. “He should do regular physical activity for 40 minutes, four to five times a week, and change his eating habits to prevent him from developing diabetes, increasing glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol deposits.”

He also reinforces that, even with this change, the person must still have medical monitoring and undergo regular exams. Finally, the need to stop smoking is necessary, as it has a huge influence on the occurrence of heart attacks, especially in young people.