Cerebrovascular disease is a common and frequent disease among middle-aged and elderly people, and is one of the three major diseases recognized worldwide as a serious threat to human life and health. With the continuous improvement of people’s living standard, the incidence of cerebrovascular disease is getting younger and younger. Therefore, it is more important to promote and popularize the knowledge of cerebrovascular disease prevention.
Risk factors for the development of cerebrovascular disease
1. Age and gender. A survey shows that: the incidence of cerebrovascular disease in middle-aged and elderly people will continue to rise with age, and after 55 years old, the incidence rate will increase by 1 times for every 10 years of age; the incidence rate of men is 50% higher than that of women. In recent years, due to the accelerated pace of life, social pressure, busy work, as well as uncontrolled smoking, alcohol abuse and other poor lifestyle, the incidence of cerebrovascular disease increasingly tends to be younger, some young people also suffer from cerebrovascular disease.
2, smoking and alcohol abuse. The incidence of cerebrovascular disease in smokers is 5-10 times higher than in nonsmokers, and is positively related to the amount of smoking, passive smoking is also a risk factor. Alcohol abuse is the main risk factor for hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease.
3, hyperlipidemia and hemodynamic changes. Increased lipids are the most important risk factor for the formation of atherosclerosis and one of the conditions leading to thrombosis. When hemodynamic changes occur, the continuity between the endothelial cells of the blood vessel wall can be interrupted, the endothelial cells retract, and the platelet activation factor can activate the platelets in the blood to adhere and gather on the intima of the blood vessel, forming wall thrombus.
4, hypertension disease and obesity. Research results show that: hypertension will cause cerebrovascular disease has no doubt, hypertension can not only cause hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease (cerebral hemorrhage), can also cause ischemic cerebrovascular disease (cerebral thrombosis) occurrence. Obesity can make blood lipid increase, and high blood lipid can cause hypertension, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.
5, diabetes. Diabetes is a multi-causal metabolic disease, characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, accompanied by disorders of sugar, fat and protein metabolism caused by defects in insulin secretion and/or action. Diabetes can cause macrovascular and microangiopathy, which can lead to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
6. Genetics and personality. It has not been fully confirmed that cerebrovascular disease is related to heredity, but it is clinically found that cerebrovascular disease has a tendency to gather in families, and the incidence of hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes are relatively high in such families. The likelihood of cerebrovascular accidents is several times higher in people who are impatient and easily agitated.
Classification of cerebrovascular disease Cerebrovascular disease is divided into 2 categories: ischemic cerebrovascular disease and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease. Ischemic cerebrovascular disease includes transient ischemic attack, cerebral thrombosis, and cerebral embolism; hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease is divided into cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Transient cerebral ischemic attack, cerebral thrombosis and cerebral hemorrhage are mostly seen in middle-aged and elderly people, mostly caused by hypertension and atherosclerosis; subarachnoid hemorrhage is mostly seen in young people, caused by cerebral aneurysm and vascular malformation; cerebral embolism is mostly seen in patients with heart disease (such as heart valve disease and myocardial infarction), caused by the embolus from the heart dislodging and blocking cerebral blood vessels.
Common symptoms of cerebrovascular disease
1. Transient ischemic attack: there may be headache, dizziness, numbness of limbs, unstable walking, mild hemiparesis, salivation, slurred speech, poor swallowing and other symptoms, but no impairment of consciousness. The symptoms usually disappear after a few minutes to half an hour, and the longest time does not exceed 24 hours, but the symptoms can recur.
2.Cerebral thrombosis: There may be a history of transient ischemic attack before the disease, and it often develops in sleep or quiet state, with symptoms such as distorted mouth and eyes, aphasia, hemiplegia, hemiplegia and impaired consciousness.
3, cerebral embolism: the onset of the disease is rapid, such as embolism of larger vessels, the patient will have headache, vomiting, restlessness, convulsions, and even quickly fall into a coma state. The symptoms may also vary depending on the embolized blood vessel.
4.Cerebral hemorrhage: The symptoms of cerebral hemorrhage may vary depending on the site of bleeding and the amount of bleeding, including severe headache, dizziness, vomiting, distortion of the corners of the mouth, hemiplegia of the limbs and impairment of consciousness.
5.Subarachnoid hemorrhage: most of them have no prodromal symptoms before the onset of hemorrhage, and the onset of hemorrhage is sudden.
Prevention of cerebrovascular disease
The following discusses how to prevent the occurrence of cerebrovascular disease by age group.
1, under 40 years old without underlying diseases (hypertension, diabetes, etc.), with or without obesity, such as recent frequent headache, dizziness, panic, tinnitus, irritability, insomnia and dreaminess, memory loss, inattention, forgetfulness (such as new events but can not remember), etc., are indicative of chronic insufficiency of blood supply to the brain and should be given high priority. Patients should go to the hospital as soon as possible to do the necessary tests to clarify the diagnosis and prevent the occurrence of cerebrovascular diseases caused by insufficient blood supply. In addition, such patients should pay attention to change their poor lifestyle, adjust the diet structure, eat more fiber vegetables, fruits and various kinds of fish; quit smoking and alcohol; pay attention to the combination of work and rest, strengthen outdoor physical exercise, which will help to prevent cerebrovascular disease.
2.People aged 40-55 who are relatively healthy or have the following 3 abnormalities should seek early medical attention for early diagnosis and treatment once symptoms such as vision loss, headache, vertigo, slurred speech, numbness and weakness of limbs occur. Patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease can avoid serious cerebrovascular sequelae if they are treated with effective arterial thrombolysis within 6-8 hours after the onset of the disease.
3.Patients over 55 years old with hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, sequelae of cerebral thrombosis and insufficient blood supply to vertebral basilar artery should adhere to long-term treatment of anticoagulation, coronary artery dilation, improvement of microcirculation, hypoglycemia and lipid lowering under the guidance of doctors, which can effectively prevent a series of clinical symptoms caused by vascular lesions and reduce the incidence of cerebrovascular disease. Such middle-aged and elderly patients should have regular physical examination at least 1-2 times a year; if symptoms such as dizziness, numbness of both upper and lower extremities and weakness of activities appear recently, in addition to active treatment of the original disease, they can go to the hospital for preventive infusion to avoid the occurrence or aggravation of cerebrovascular disease.
In addition, the middle-aged and elderly people should pay attention to adjusting the diet structure, reasonable diet, eat less and more meals, and keep the bowel movement smooth; try to put on a calm mood, prevent emotional excitement, reduce tension and anxiety, ensure good sleep, but do not sleep too much; adhere to the appropriate amount of outdoor exercise, and participate in more beneficial social activities.