Self-diagnosis Common Sense of Cardio-cerebrovascular Diseases
Main symptoms of cardio-cerebrovascular diseases: Hyperlipidemia, high blood viscosity, arteriosclerosis: Often appear dizziness, headache, insomnia, forgetfulness, palpitations, shortness of breath, weakness in the limbs, tinnitus, delayed reaction, etc.
The safest blood pressure, blood lipids, and weight index for Chinese people. The epidemiology room of Fuwai Hospital conducted a survey and follow-up of 20,000 people and proposed for the first time that the most suitable blood pressure for our population is less than 110 mmHg systolic and less than 75 mmHg diastolic; serum total cholesterol (TC) between 140 to 179 mg/dl; Body Mass Index (BMI) between 19 to 23 Kg/m2. When blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and body mass index are within the above range, the incidence and mortality risk of chronic diseases are the lowest.
What symptoms will coronary heart disease present?
(1) Slight physical activity can cause palpitations, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing.
(2) Watching thrilling scenes or having a full meal, cold weather often causes palpitations and chest tightness.
(3) If physically exhausted or mentally stressed, there may be symptoms of chest bone pain or compression.
(4) Or sudden increase, decrease, or even irregular rhythm changes in heart rate.
(5) Suddenly wake up during sleep or dreaming, feeling chest tightness and unable to breathe, need to sit up for a while to feel better.
(6) In the office, others are fine, but you often feel dizzy, palpitations, and chest tightness.
(7) Sexual life is interrupted due to palpitations, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort.
(8) Unexplained chronic pain in the left eyebrow and back, which does not heal despite treatment.
Premonitory signs before a heart attack:
1. Discomfort in the stomach differs from common gastric diseases. Gastric pain caused by heart disease rarely presents with severe or sharp pain, nor is tenderness common. Instead, it feels stuffy and bloated, sometimes accompanied by dull pain, burning sensation, nausea, and some relief after defecation, but the uncomfortable feeling doesn't completely disappear.
2. Jawbone pain spreads to both sides of the jawbone, sometimes only to one side of the neck or both sides. The pain can also occur in the neck.
3. Forearm and shoulder pain. Although the left arm and shoulder are affected most commonly, when the pain is severe, it can radiate to the right arm as well. However, it's extremely rare for only the right arm to hurt. Even if the pain isn't severe, lifting hands and arms becomes difficult. The pain is usually dull rather than intense, and doesn't extend to the wrist or fingers, typically limited to the inner side of the forearm. It's hard for patients to pinpoint the exact location of the pain during a heart attack.
4. Shortness of breath. Some heart disease patients, besides common symptoms, may experience shortness of breath, prolonged inhalation and exhalation, or difficulty catching their breath, often described as "not enough air." Resting for a few minutes might normalize breathing, but when moving again, shortness of breath recurs. This symptom is often overlooked, especially in elderly patients.
5. Fatigue. Severe fatigue occurs after brisk walking, leaving no strength to straighten the body. Fatigue isn't limited to any specific part but affects the whole body. If unprecedented severe fatigue occurs, immediate medical examination is necessary.
6. Strange sensations. About 20% of heart disease patients experience a relatively "calm" period before an attack, which is often unnoticed, even by doctors. Many survivors report unusual feelings in the hours, days, or even weeks before a heart attack.
7. Numbness in limbs and muscle cramps are precursors of "stroke." One must pay attention to the following symptoms: sudden dizziness, instability, numbness on one side of the face or limb, weakness, facial distortion, drooling; temporary speech difficulties; transient loss of consciousness or drowsiness; unbearable headaches turning from intermittent to continuous, accompanied by nausea and vomiting; brief vision problems, blurred vision, visual field defects, then naturally recovering; men shaving suddenly experiencing arm weakness, dropping the razor, and unclear speech.
Hypertension: Frequent headaches and dizziness can lead to serious strokes, renal failure, left ventricular hypertrophy, arrhythmia, arteriosclerosis, sudden death, etc. It's called the "silent killer" of heart, brain, and kidney organs.
Myocardial ischemia and hypoxia: Often presents with chest tightness, chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, arrhythmia.
Symptoms of hyperlipidemia and high blood viscosity: Dizziness upon waking in the morning, clear-headed in the evening. People with high lipid levels and high blood viscosity feel dizzy immediately after waking up without the clarity and smooth thinking typical of normal mornings. After breakfast, the brain gradually becomes clearer. After dinner, mental state is the best. Healthy adults may feel sleepy after lunch, but they can endure it. Those with hyperlipidemia and high blood viscosity fall asleep soon after lunch, needing a nap, otherwise feeling uncomfortable throughout the afternoon. A nap significantly improves their condition. Morning dizziness and post-lunch sleepiness indicate insufficient blood supply to the brain.
Shortness of breath when squatting to work: Hyperlipidemia and high blood viscosity patients, often obese, have difficulty squatting or feel short of breath when working in a squatting position. Some cannot squat at all. Squatting reduces blood flow to the heart and brain, combined with high blood viscosity, causing oxygen deprivation in vital organs like lungs and brain, leading to breathing difficulties. Shortness of breath while working, especially while squatting, relates to oxygen deficiency in lungs and brain.
Intermittent vision blurriness: High lipid levels and high blood viscosity prevent adequate nourishment of the optic nerve, causing temporary ischemia and hypoxia in the optic nerve and retina, leading to intermittent vision blurriness. Turning the neck causes unclear vision or intermittent vision blurriness due to high lipid levels and high blood viscosity.
Increased blood viscosity: During blood tests, needle clogging and rapid clotting in the syringe often occur. Blood flow measurements show blood viscosity "+++" or higher, with other indices significantly elevated.
Symptoms of hypertension: Most hypertensive patients, despite high blood pressure readings, usually do not feel any discomfort, often discovering their high blood pressure during routine checks. Some may feel easily fatigued, with stiff muscles around the neck and shoulders; more severe cases include persistent headaches (sometimes feeling like an explosion, often in the temples or back of the head), dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, rapid heartbeat, fast breathing, numbness in hands and feet, inability to concentrate, memory decline, etc. Note that these symptoms' appearance is unrelated to the degree of blood pressure elevation. Some people with normal blood pressure experience many discomforts, while others with very high blood pressure feel little discomfort.
Cerebrovascular disease: Cerebrovascular disease refers to various vascular-originated brain lesions. It has become a major threat to human health, being one of the three leading causes of death, with high incidence, disability, mortality, and recurrence rates, severely endangering human health.
Transient ischemic attacks (TIA): Patients experience dizziness, vertigo, and may have blurred vision, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, unsteady gait, impaired voluntary movement, and mental disorders. Persistent development often leads to dementia and stroke.
Ischemic stroke: Often occurs during sleep or rest, preceded by repeated transient ischemic attacks. The condition gradually progresses or worsens in steps. Central paralysis, facial paralysis, and tongue paralysis occur, with reduced or absent sensation on the opposite side of the body.
Hemorrhagic stroke: Often occurs during excitement, exertion, or activities, accompanied by headache, vomiting, and elevated blood pressure. The condition progresses rapidly, reaching its peak within a few hours. Severe cases enter coma quickly.
Phases of cerebral thrombosis:
(1) Within three months of onset, the body suffers severe damage, with severe cases resulting in hemiplegia or complete paralysis, and milder cases showing movement difficulties and tremors. Without timely treatment, the thrombus fuses with the cerebral vessels, leading to massive neuronal death and further damage to limbs and organs. At this stage, patients often seek help indiscriminately, choosing ineffective medications that delay treatment and even endanger lives.
(2) Between three months and one year after onset, the thrombus gradually solidifies. Without prompt treatment, more neurons die, further restricting limb movement, reducing cognitive abilities, causing muscle atrophy, and lowering quality of life.
(3) The longer cerebral thrombosis persists, the greater the harm to the body. After three years, the body undergoes further damage, nearing collapse. Medical data shows that the third to fifth year after onset is the peak period for recurrence, with a mortality rate exceeding 90%.
Alzheimer's disease: Causes of Alzheimer's disease mainly stem from cerebrovascular lesions leading to reduced cerebral perfusion and insufficient cerebral power, decreasing the supply of "oxygen" (nutrition and oxygen) needed to maintain normal cerebral arteries, especially bilateral artery lesions (such as cerebral embolism) and widespread small vessel lesions (such as hypertension or vasculitis) that more easily cause dementia. Large artery vascular lesions, atherosclerosis, or embolism can reduce brain volume. Accumulated infarctions totaling 50~100 ml can lead to dementia. Additionally, multiple strokes often result in various neurological deficits, such as aphasia, amnesia, forgetfulness, ultimately leading to or worsening dementia.
Early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease:
1. Memory loss, forgetting things frequently.
2. Decline in calculation ability, reduced ability to handle accounts.
3. Forgetting familiar names or not recognizing them at all.
4. Suspiciousness, always suspecting others of taking misplaced items.
5. Emotional indifference, lack of interest in anything.
6. Personality changes, becoming sensitive, suspicious, timid, irritable, stubborn.
7. Difficulty expressing thoughts, repetitive talkativeness about the same topic.
Food helping combat cardio-cerebrovascular diseases:
Garlic: Rich in protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sulfur, selenium organic compounds (allicin), and various active enzymes. Garlic increases high-density lipoprotein in the blood, dissolves internal blood clots, preventing arteriosclerosis and thrombosis. It also has antibacterial and anticancer properties.
Eating method: Best eaten raw, used mainly for seasoning in cooking. Chives and green garlic can be stir-fried or used as ingredients.
Eggplant: Decomposition products of eggplants in the intestines bind with excess cholesterol and expel it from the body.
Eating method: Eggplants are a main summer vegetable, with diverse preparation methods. Winter eggplant stew is aromatic, appetizing, and cancer-preventive. Purple-skinned eggplants are particularly beneficial for patients with hypertension, hemoptysis, and purpura.
Common preparation methods include roasting, stir-frying, braising, deep-frying, cold mixing, drying, etc.
Mushrooms and black fungus: Can lower blood cholesterol and triglycerides. Studies show their cholesterol-lowering effect is ten times stronger than the lipid-lowering drug Clofibrate.
Onions and kelp: Onions reduce arterial lipid deposits, while iodine and magnesium in kelp also help prevent arterial lipid deposits.
Eating method: Raw onions are most effective, ideally eating half an onion daily. Red-skinned onions are best; avoid if suffering from eye diseases. Kelp can be stir-fried, stewed, steamed, or boiled. Common dishes include kelp mixed with sugar or kelp cooked with tofu.
Soybeans: Rich in protein, soy protein is the only plant-based food that can replace animal protein. Research shows eating 115 grams of beans daily can reduce plasma cholesterol by 20%, especially low-density lipoprotein associated with atherosclerosis. It also promotes bone and kidney health.
Eating method: Combining with corn enhances biological value comparable to beef. Avoid dry roasting as it harms health. Roasting hinders protein absorption and harmful factors like trypsin inhibitors, urease, and hemagglutinin cannot be decomposed under dry heat conditions. Undercooked roasted soybeans can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Soak soybeans before cooking. Patients with severe peptic ulcers, acute gastritis, nephritis, urinary calculi, and diabetes should limit soybean consumption.
Tea: Tea lowers blood lipids. Residents in tea-growing areas have significantly lower blood cholesterol content and coronary heart disease incidence compared to other regions. Black tea is rich in polyphenols with strong polyphenol oxidase activity. Drinking oolong tea burns body fat, clears heat, and quenches thirst, suitable for obesity and hyperlipidemia. Bitter tea was once a royal tribute.
Citrus fruits: According to reports in the Harbin Daily, two Japanese studies show that Chinese citrus significantly reduces risks of liver cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Citrus is rich in vitamin A and carotene components. Eating fresh oranges benefits night blindness, skin keratinization, and hypertension, but should be consumed in moderation, ideally 2-3 per day. Don't remove the orange pith as it contains vitamin P, useful for preventing hypertension.
Fish: Fish contain large amounts of unsaturated fatty acids beneficial for lowering blood cholesterol. The lower coronary heart disease incidence among fishermen compared to inland residents proves this point.
Vegetable oils: Contain essential unsaturated fatty acids that lower blood cholesterol, with sesame oil, corn oil, peanut oil being particularly recommended.
Other foods: Hawthorn, celery, winter melon, coarse oats, apples, etc., have varying degrees of lipid-lowering effects.
Clear Blood Diet Rhyme
Control food intake, primarily vegetarian diet.
Eat vegetables and fruits, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, oats, seaweed, beans, fish.
Meat, poultry, eggs, milk, should be consumed in small quantities and high quality.
Reduce waste, numerous methods exist; eating until seven-tenths full yields the best results.
Balanced nutrition, even caloric intake: Reasonable diet prolongs life and brings peace.
Seven Rules for Keeping Vessels "Young"
1. Balanced dietary structure, reduce fat intake.
2. Eat less salt. Those consuming 7 grams of salt daily have a 6.9% hypertension rate; those consuming 10 grams have an 8.6% rate; those consuming 26 grams have a 39% rate.
3. Eat more alkaline foods (including vegetables, fruits, legumes), which neutralize acidic substances in the blood, protecting vessels.
4. Regular physical activity or appropriate manual labor.
5. No smoking, minimal alcohol consumption.
6. Maintain a relaxed and pleasant mood in daily life. A good and stable mood helps stabilize blood pressure and protects vessels.
7. Regular health check-ups. Pay attention to abnormal changes in blood pressure, blood lipids, blood viscosity, etc., and promptly detect and treat vascular diseases.
Blood Cleansing Heart Strengthening Exercises
(1) Preparatory posture - Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, arms extended horizontally at the sides, palms down. Bend the upper body to the left, raise the right arm overhead via the side, slowly lower the left arm to the left, return to the original position, then bend to the right, repeat 10 times.
(2) Extend arms forward horizontally, palms facing each other, simultaneously squat halfway, then slowly separate arms laterally for chest expansion, palms forward, while standing upright, repeat 10 times.
(3) Raise the left hand from the side, palm pushing upward forcefully, simultaneously the right palm pushing downward forcefully, slightly squatting the lower body, repeat 5 times.
(4) Cross arms in front of the body and open them, simultaneously lift the left knee bent, then return to the original position. Next, cross arms, lift the right knee bent, then return to the original position, repeat 5 times.
Self-assessment for Alzheimer's Disease
Neurology Department of East China Hospital in Shanghai designed an Alzheimer's self-assessment form based on the frequency of Alzheimer's occurrence. You can use these 10 items to simply test whether your family member has Alzheimer's:
1. Forgets where things were placed or loses items due to forgetfulness;
2. Gets lost or takes wrong turns on familiar paths or in buildings;
3. Cannot visually recognize commonly seen friends or relatives or call out their names;
4. Repeatedly checks if tasks have been done;
5. Forgets important appointment times and locations;
6. Forgets birthdays, addresses, home phone numbers, etc.;
7. Incorrectly repeats daily tasks;
8. Unable to follow storylines while reading, cannot find narrative threads, cannot summarize stories after reading;
9. Forgets previously mentioned people and events during conversations;
10. Cannot perform simple daily calculations.
If 6 or more of the above 10 items occur frequently (weekly), timely scientific diagnosis and treatment are necessary.
How to comprehensively prevent stroke?
(1) Control hypertension and keep blood pressure within normal range;
(2) Maintain normal weight and prevent overweight and obesity; Body Mass Index = weight (kg)/height squared (m²). BMI 18.5-22.99 is normal, over 23 is overweight, over 25 is obese;
(3) Maintain normal blood lipids;
(4) Do not smoke;
(5) Adequate dietary fiber is necessary;
(6) Increase intake of antioxidant nutrients;
(7) Moderate alcohol consumption;
(8) Regular physical exercise;
(9) Emphasize mental health;
(10) Change bad temper;
(11) Do not seek medical advice blindly;
(12) Enhance self-care awareness;
(13) Check for circulatory system diseases;
(14) Check for atrial fibrillation;
(15) Reduce salt and fat intake;
(16) Recognize symptoms and signs of stroke;
(17) Eat potatoes because they contain abundant potassium, which stabilizes emotions, avoids stress, and protects blood vessels from rupture;
(18) Drink milk;
(19) Take cod liver oil;
(20) Eat magnesium-rich foods;
(21) Frequently drink green tea;
(22) Exercise the right brain. The left brain has more developed blood vessels, while the right brain has fewer and more fragile ones. Pathological factors (like high blood pressure) make the right brain more prone to bleeding, making it a "high-risk area" for hemorrhage. Specific measures include: more activities using the left hand and foot, such as holding chopsticks, writing, playing fitness balls with the left hand, jumping rope or kicking shuttlecocks with the left foot; more breathing through the right nostril (olfaction is controlled by the same hemisphere as the brain), listening to music (preferably instrumental music), engaging in image thinking, combing hair frequently.
(23) Rest the spirit for three minutes. According to clinical reports, most strokes occur at night or upon waking up, especially when transitioning from lying down to sitting or getting out of bed. The reason lies in the vessels not adapting quickly enough, leading to cerebral ischemia. Therefore, resting the spirit for three minutes upon waking can prevent danger.
(24) Prevent and treat colds. Colds produce more fibrinogen, increasing blood coagulability and leading to thromb