Not long ago, an Olympic volunteer was seen in the emergency room of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, with chest tightness and panic as the main symptom for example, after examination, myocarditis was suspected, and after the symptoms were relieved by treatment the patient asked to leave the hospital, but considering the potential risk of myocarditis, our doctor kept him, as a result, the patient later died suddenly, due to timely treatment, the patient was successfully rescued and has now basically recovered. It is hard to imagine the consequences if he had been released at that time and this had happened in the street. So, how exactly is myocarditis a disease? How is myocarditis caused? Myocarditis is a limited or diffuse inflammation of the heart muscle. The causes of acute myocarditis can be broadly divided into three categories: (1) myocarditis caused by infection of the myocardium with pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses; (2) myocarditis caused by allergies or allergic reactions; and (3) myocardial damage caused by chemical, physical, and drug toxicity. Among them, the myocardium is most often induced by viral infections, and the more obvious triggers are influenza virus and enterovirus infections. When a virus infects the myocardium, the virus can either cause direct damage to the myocardium or cause myocardial cell damage through an autoimmune response. What are the clinical manifestations of myocarditis? The clinical manifestations of myocarditis vary widely. In mild cases, there may be no symptoms or discomfort such as palpitations, chest tightness, vague pain in the precordial region, weakness, etc. In severe cases, the disease may be aggressive, with arrhythmias, heart failure or cardiogenic shock, or even sudden death. Whenever you have a cold or diarrhea, you should be alert to the possibility of myocarditis within a short period of time (usually 1-2 weeks after the disease), including heartburn, chest pain, chest tightness, shortness of breath, fatigue, pallor, sweating, dizziness, precordial discomfort or convulsions. Can myocarditis be cured and is it hereditary? Myocarditis is not hereditary. It is a self-limiting disease, and the majority of cases have a good outcome. It is a self-limiting disease and the majority of patients have a good outcome. With rest, treatment and regular follow-up with the doctor, it can be cured. Only a very small number of patients develop chronic myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy. Myocarditis should be taken seriously but not “amplified”. In recent years, you may find that more and more children are suffering from toxic myocarditis, which on the one hand is related to the fact that more children in China suffer from toxic upper respiratory infections, and on the other hand is also due to the fact that the diagnosis of myocarditis is too broad, some units will be young people with premature beats, chest tightness, chest pain and other symptoms are classified as myocarditis; there is no information on the examination of viruses, i.e., crowned with a viral cause. As a result, the number of “myocarditis patients” has increased significantly, resulting in many unnecessary hospitalizations, examinations, treatments, suspensions and absences from school, causing unnecessary panic in many families, in addition to incalculable economic losses. Because of this, our country has revised the diagnostic criteria for myocarditis to be more stringent than before, which helps prevent ‘amplification’ and thus prevents parents and children from carrying a heavy psychological burden. What should I do if I have myocarditis? Once the diagnosis of viral myocarditis is confirmed, the patient should rest adequately during the acute phase, at least 3 months after the normalization of heart function in mild cases, and 6 months to 1 year in severe cases. Antiviral drugs such as amantadine, cytarabine and interferon can be used for treatment; vitamin C, inosine, adenosine triphosphate, coenzyme A and cytochrome C can be used to promote the metabolism of myocardial cells and help repair the damaged myocardium. In addition, the use of Chinese herbal medicine to identify and treat the symptoms, and the appropriate application of Pan Lan Gen, Lian Qiao, Guan Zong, and Hu Zong, etc. to clear heat and detoxify the toxins has a very good effect on viral myocarditis. Do I have to take a break from school if I have myocarditis? Usually viral myocarditis is treated in hospital for about 3 weeks and then can be treated at home. Because of the specific nature of the virus damage to the heart, the recovery period is longer than the virus damage to other organs, usually 3 months to 6 months. During this time some patients with myocarditis will insist on going to school because they do not want to delay their classes, but they should be careful not to overexert themselves, limit their physical activity appropriately, and have regular follow-ups at the hospital. Can myocarditis also cause sudden death? It is not alarming that myocarditis can also cause sudden death, especially after strenuous exercise. The case given at the beginning of this article is worthy of your attention. Because teenagers like to participate in sports activities, they often do not pay attention to minor symptoms and their condition deteriorates rapidly during the activity. Therefore, it is important to remind our teenagers that once they have symptoms, they should take rest, stop participating in strenuous sports and go to the hospital for further examination. After regular treatment, the majority of patients can be completely cured without any sequelae and can continue to participate in strenuous sports or competitions. Why is it that some people do not get well easily with myocarditis? 1, treatment is not timely enough: light myocarditis early, the clinical symptoms are more light, only the electrocardiogram has abnormal changes, X-ray and echocardiography results abnormal rare, not easy to be found by parents, clinicians may also ignore and missed diagnosis, failure to timely rest treatment, resulting in delay, aggravation, and even has developed into chronic. The best time for treatment is lost. 2, do not pay attention to rest: not adhere to the treatment of myocarditis clinical manifestations are often lighter than the actual disease, so that some parents do not pay attention to, after hospitalization treatment improved discharge or after a period of outpatient treatment, no longer continue to use drugs, participate in all sports activities, so that the condition is delayed or aggravated. 3, repeated infections: after suffering from myocarditis part of the child’s body immune function is reduced, especially the cellular immune The first thing you need to do is to take a look at the results of the study. 5, related to the severity of the disease: light and medium-sized cases, after regular rest and treatment, most can be completely recovered; heavy cases because of its extensive, serious lesions, the onset of the more acute, even if actively rescue, regular treatment, the condition is easy to delay or leave sequelae, or even death. How to prevent myocarditis? To prevent viral myocarditis, you should first prevent colds and intestinal disinfection infections, often take part in physical exercise to improve your own resistance to disease, and often open windows in your home to keep the air fresh; during the flu season, try to go to public places as little as possible to prevent various viral infections. Regular influenza vaccination to obtain immunity against influenza can effectively prevent viral influenza in the spring and autumn seasons when the climate is changeable. Vaccination is generally recommended in early autumn and can effectively prevent influenza for 12 months. Once a viral infection occurs, it is important to take rest and avoid overexertion, and never smoke or drink alcohol. In addition, pay attention to nutrition, correct the bad habits of partial diet, daily diet with coarse grains, fresh vegetables and lean meat, but also appropriate to eat more fruit. What should I do if I have the sequelae of myocarditis? The majority of patients can be cured after timely and effective treatment during the acute phase of myocarditis. However, a very small number of children will develop myocarditis sequelae, which seriously affects life, work and study, when the effect of pure Western medicine treatment is not good, but with Chinese medicine evidence-based treatment, can often achieve very good results. A girl with myocarditis from Yantai, Shandong Province, had panic attacks, weakness, and a heart rate of about 100 beats at rest, which accelerated even more after activity, and was so distressed that she had no choice but to take a break from school. According to the patient’s characteristics of positive deficiency and evil love, we adopted the method of benefiting Qi and nourishing Yin, clearing heat and toxicity, nourishing the heart and calming the mind, with additional reduction and treatment for more than a month, the symptoms were significantly reduced and she has resumed normal schooling.