Epidemiological surveys show that cardiovascular disease is the most important disease threatening human health today, with a high incidence of hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke and the associated diabetes and hyperlipidemia, as well as a high risk. Hypertension, in particular, is the culprit of three major complications: stroke, heart failure and renal failure. At present, the prevalence of hypertension in China is as high as 18.8%, with 160 million patients, but the awareness rate is only 30.2%, the treatment rate is only 20%, and the control rate is as low as 6.1%. The “three highs” of hypertension are usually referred to as high prevalence, high disability and high mortality, and the “three lows” are low awareness rate, low treatment rate and low control rate. Hypertension is a major risk factor for various cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular events, and for every 10 mmHg increase in mean arterial pressure, the cardiovascular risk increases by 30%. Blood pressure lowering treatment can significantly reduce the occurrence of hypertension complications, systolic blood pressure down 10-12mmHg or diastolic blood pressure down 5-6mmHg, that can reduce 42% of the stroke rate and 20-25% of the incidence of coronary heart disease. Obesity, tobacco and alcohol, excessive salt intake, inactivity, and psychological stress are risk factors for the development of hypertension. Numerous studies have shown that effective lifestyle modification can reduce the occurrence and delay the development of cardiovascular disease to a considerable extent, and that lifestyle modification is also an important basis for drug therapy. Lifestyle modification for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease can be summarized as “balanced diet, smoking and alcohol cessation, appropriate exercise, cheerfulness, regular life, regular medication”, which can also be called the “six tips policy” of cardiovascular health measures.
I. Balanced diet
A balanced diet means reducing the intake of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, controlling total calories, increasing physical activity, and reducing salt intake.
1. How much to eat? Generally, it is appropriate to eat 70% or 80% full. Three balanced meals a day, not a meal too full, a meal not enough, especially pay attention to breakfast not to eat, dinner not too full. It is best to keep the body mass index (referred to as BMI, that is, weight divided by height squared, weight and height in kilograms and meters, respectively) at 20 to 24. Total calories should be reasonably distributed, probably 25% fat, 20% protein and 55% carbohydrates. If you are originally overweight or obese, you should lose weight. Reducing calories, dietary balance, and increasing exercise can all help reduce weight. Weight loss can lower blood pressure, and also improve blood sugar and blood lipids. Weight control has been shown to be effective in mild to moderate hypertension based on current research. Some appetite suppressants may increase blood pressure, so special care must be taken when using these drugs to “lose weight”.
2. What to eat? In addition to the staple food rice and flour, appropriate mix of grains and legumes.
① reduce dietary fat, supplemented with an appropriate amount of high-quality protein: eat less or no fatty meat, can eat lean meat, poultry, fish; eat less animal offal (liver, kidney, brain, etc.); dairy products are not limited, eggs 1 day 1 no problem, if you have hypercholesterolemia, it is best to eat less egg yolk. “Fat restriction” is to require total fat <30% of total calories, saturated fat <10%.
② Pay attention to the supplement of potassium and calcium: daily foods that contain more potassium and calcium include leafy greens, fresh milk, soy products, peanuts and walnuts.
③Eat more vegetables and fruits, and drink less sugary drinks.
3, reduce sodium: 5-6 grams of sodium per day for adults can meet normal needs. Pay attention to reduce cooking salt, use less soy sauce, eat less salted vegetables and salt-pickled food. Also available low sodium salt, health care salt. The “salt limit” is to require a daily sodium intake of 6 to 8 grams or less. Studies have shown that moderate restriction of sodium intake in patients with essential hypertension (daily sodium intake from 200mmol i.e. 4600mg to 100mmol i.e. 2300mg) can reduce systolic blood pressure by about 5mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by about 2-3mmHg. Even when using antihypertensive drugs, restricting sodium intake can usually enhance the effect of the drugs.
Second, quit smoking and limit alcohol
1, limit alcohol consumption: hypertension should stop drinking alcohol, because alcohol can reduce the effectiveness of antihypertensive drugs. Men should drink 20 to 30 grams of alcohol / day (40 degrees of white wine 1 two), women 10 to 15 grams / day (half two).
2, completely quit smoking: a large number of medical research shows that smoking is related to the occurrence of many diseases, such as lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, hypertension and coronary heart disease and so on. In short, there is no benefit to smoking, so you should immediately quit smoking completely.
Third, appropriate exercise
Exercise helps to maintain the ideal weight, promote blood circulation, improve the body’s resistance, but also help to lower blood pressure. However, attention should be paid to aerobic exercise, do not feel hard for the degree, such as 30 to 45 minutes of jogging every day, several days a week. From a health care point of view, the lack of oxygen exercise is harmful to the body. Those who have suffered from cardiovascular disease should not do skillful exercise.
Fourth, a cheerful heart
Optimism can improve the ability of the population to prevent disease. Today’s society, the competition is fierce, the relationship between people is delicate and complex, easy to make people often in a bad state of mind, and lead to psychosomatic diseases, especially the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, you must consciously regulate your emotions and maintain a happy and healthy state of mind. People should struggle, but do not care too much about success or failure, it is best to “not to be happy with things, not to be sad” mentality to deal with success or failure.
V. Regularity of life
Maintain a regular life is the basic condition for the body to maintain health. One of the most important is the regularity of diet and sleep. Eat a meal without a meal, a meal full of a meal hungry, often stay up all night, followed by a day or two of sleep, so that people do not live a disease is strange! Work and rest time as regular as possible, there are nap habits such as the best conditions for appropriate lunch break.
Six, the regular use of drugs
If you already suffer from hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, etc., should be specialist formal treatment. Do not blindly believe in advertising, do not just take proprietary Chinese medicine on the matter, do not cast a “wandering doctor”, or suffer is their own! To believe in science! Do not believe in science is the most pathetic “ignorance”, is the biggest “pathetic”.
The medication should be regular and persistent, not three days to fish and two days to sunbathe. Aspirin is an important drug for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and should be promoted for widespread use. People with coronary heart disease should carry nitroglycerin with them in case they have an angina attack. Those with anterior chest crush-like pain that does not resolve in 20 minutes should immediately go to a hospital cardiovascular unit to prevent delayed treatment of acute myocardial infarction.
In conclusion, cardiovascular health measures are beneficial to your body, specifically by changing your poor lifestyle. A good lifestyle is best started at an early age and maintained over time. Health care is important to understand and valuable to adhere to, not for a while but for a lifetime.