Speaking of me, you will not be unfamiliar with me. As a symbol of loyalty, the embodiment of romance and a source of wisdom, my image is everywhere in your world. Guess what? I am the heart that resides in your chest cavity. Although I am well known, not everyone really knows me. Today I want to write a letter to you about my joys and sorrows, and the other side of me that is not well known. I am the strongest pump in the body. When it comes to my size, many people will clench their fists and say, “Look, my heart is this big.” The average adult me is about 15 cm long and weighs about 350 grams. Don’t look at the size of an ordinary pear, for so many years I have been silently delivering blood and life-sustaining energy to a body that weighs 200 times as much as I do. As long as life goes on, I will keep on beating. Some people have calculated that the work I have done in my life pumping blood is equivalent to lifting 30,000 kilograms to the top of the Himalayas, making me the strongest pump in the body. Based on this alone, our heart should be selected as the world’s top labor model. In addition to being competent, I am also loyal. Although the work is very busy, but I am very considerate of the big picture. When my master’s activity increases, my footsteps rush to keep up. On the field I help sportsmen run faster and jump higher, helping humans to complete one leap after another; when the master encounters an emergency, I can immediately speed up the number of heartbeats as needed, showing great self-awareness and initiative; when the master needs to be quiet, I will again slow down the pace and lie quietly in his body, not disturbing him to think about the problem. Like you, I also have time to work and rest every day. When in a normal working state, I beat about 60-70 times per minute, about 0, 9 seconds each time, of which, 0, 3 seconds contraction, that is, work; 0, 6 seconds diastole, that is, rest. In other words, I spend 1/3 of my time working and 2/3 of my time resting. When people are asleep, I automatically adjust again to 40-50 beats per minute, each time working for about 1/4 time and resting for about 3/4 time. I have a lot of power, but I am clean and honest. Although I have two rooms and two chambers, I constantly collect blood from the whole body, but never intercept and exclusive, each time I use all my strength to transport the blood out and supply all the organs of the body. My own nutrition relies on the creeping on my body, a whole set of independent vascular network – the coronary artery system to supply. I am also very protective of myself. When some of my blood supply capacity is significantly reduced, I will send a warning signal, so that the owner of the chest area to feel pain and discomfort, to remind the owner to take protective measures. I am afraid of “bad owners”. Whenever people want to express their sincerity and love, saying “I give you my heart”, I am honored to feel that I am the most precious thing in the world. However, there are times when I feel very unappreciated and even hurt. Many people have heart problems because of their unhealthy lifestyles, and they will tell others that it’s their heart that’s broken, which makes me feel very unfair. It’s obvious that they broke me, but they still say it’s my problem. We have a popular saying in the heart community, “There are no bad hearts in the world, only bad owners.” During the day, we also compare our respective owners in private, and if anyone’s owner belongs to one of the following categories, we will worry for these fellow citizens. 1, “three high” master. High blood pressure, high blood pressure, high blood sugar is an important cause of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure will increase vascular resistance, so that I have to pump blood outward to increase the force, over time, I will become more fat than before, and in serious cases, even exhaustion to failure. High blood pressure tends to cause atherosclerosis, which is prone to angina pectoris and even myocardial infarction. In addition, type 2 diabetes patients have a greater than 70% chance of cardiovascular complications. 2, the owner of smoking. As long as I see the owner lighting up a cigarette, I will be very afraid. The nicotine in cigarettes and the many toxic substances in the smoke stimulate the blood vessels throughout the body to constrict, making them harder and harder and blood pressure higher and higher. To combat these stresses, I have to work my ass off. The carbon monoxide in the smoke, but also increases the possibility of blood clot formation, so that the risk of sudden cardiac death increases. 3. Alcoholic owners. I am not afraid of the owner of alcohol, but I am afraid that he can not control the amount, drink too much will hurt me, make me tremble (atrial fibrillation), and even destroy my otherwise very skilled pumping function. 4, stay up late master. In recent years, the number of cases of myocardial infarction in young people around 30 years old has increased year by year, and a big reason for this is that irregular life and stress, resulting in physical overdraft. Wei Meng, director of the Department of Cardiology at the Sixth People’s Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said for us that nighttime is supposed to be the time when the endothelial cells of blood vessels carry out metabolism, and if it is disrupted, the damage to the heart will be great. A study in the United States showed that sleeping less than seven hours a day also puts us at significantly higher risk of disease. Therefore, to protect me, it is very necessary to maintain adequate sleep. 5, mentally stressed owners. The owner is mentally stressed, and my life is not able to continue normally. Medical staff at the University of London Medical School confirmed through large-scale trials that people under greater stress have a twofold increased risk of atherosclerosis, which greatly increases the risk of heart disease. Six things I like Although some owners do a substandard job, if we are lucky, we can still meet owners who treat us well. They are optimistic and calm, make us comfortable, give us healthy food every day, and we are very happy to live with them. Some medical experts have also figured out six things we like best. If everyone can take care of us carefully according to these standards, we will definitely work harder for human beings. 1, more and more people. Researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago, USA, followed more than 2,000 men over a 30-year period. Their research found that men with introverted personalities were surprisingly 50% more likely to die of heart disease. People who are cheerful and like to socialize are often more likely to have a healthy heart than those who are introverted. 2, the main food like thicker. Eat more whole grain foods, total cholesterol, “bad cholesterol” (i.e. LDL cholesterol) will drop, as long as the cholesterol can be reduced by 1%, the mortality rate of coronary heart disease will drop by 2%. 3. Prefer red-colored fruits and vegetables. I love red food, such as tomatoes, red apples, red grapes, red dates, etc. Professor Wu Dazhen, president of the Chinese Health Association, said that red food has extremely strong antioxidant properties, rich in lycopene, tannins, etc., which can protect cells and have anti-inflammatory effects. Red foods are rich in B vitamins and iron. In addition, red food has the effect of enhancing memory and stabilizing mood. In the United States, February 4-10 each year by the American Heart Association as “National Red Food Week” to encourage people to eat more red fruits and vegetables to protect us. 4, snack favorites are nuts. Hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and other nuts are extremely rich in fatty acids, can regulate blood lipids, lower cholesterol, prevent and treat ischemic heart disease such as coronary heart disease. Currently, the American Heart Association has listed nuts as “heart food”. Studies have shown that eating almonds 2 times a week, each time a handful (30 grams) or so, about 20-25, long-term persistence, the chances of heart disease or coronary heart disease will be reduced by 50%. 5, with a pedometer brisk walk. Brisk walking is a sport that I like. American Heart Association founder, the famous cardiologist Dr. White pioneered the method of walking as a rehabilitation treatment for heart disease and heart attack patients, which has achieved good results. Not long ago, the United States a study of 1645 people over 65 years of age found that: compared with the elderly who walk less than 1 hour a week, walk more than 4 hours a week, its cardiovascular hospitalization costs reduced by 69%, 73% reduction in mortality. 6, a smile every day. U.S. researchers to diabetes patients as the subject of the latest survey shows that a smile every day can significantly improve the patient’s body “good cholesterol” (i.e., high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) levels, reducing the risk of heart attack. The researchers asked a group of people to watch a humorous video for at least 30 minutes a day to enjoy the lighter moments of laughter. After two months, the researchers found that the group who laughed every day had lower levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine, two hormones thought to be related to the stress people feel, suggesting that laughing helps them reduce stress and is helping us relax.