There is a saying among the folks that with a heart stent installed, they will live another 10 years at most. The installation of a heart stent, officially known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in medicine, is a major advancement in the treatment of coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction, saving many patients' lives. Everyone knows that the coronary artery is the only blood vessel that delivers blood to the heart. Once it is blocked, the myocardium will be largely ischemia and necrosis, and the patient will lose life in a short time. It is the most effective method to unblock the blocked blood vessel and restore the blood supply in a short time, and install the heart stent in time.
We can imagine: If the water pipe in the house is blocked, the maintenance worker can use tools to dredge it and restore the normal water supply. However, the root cause of the blockage of the water pipe has not been solved. For example, if the water quality is poor or the pipe is damaged, the water pipe will eventually be blocked again; there is another possibility that the part that was dredged is not blocked, and other parts that have not been repaired will also be Blocked. The role of the heart stent is to unblock the blocked heart vessels and restore blood supply to the heart, but it cannot completely eradicate the cause of coronary heart disease. Some people say that many people have not lived for 10 years after installing a heart stent! In fact, this is not the heart stent's fault, but the patient's failure to deal with the "water quality" (certain components in the blood) or repair the "pipes" (inflammation and plaques of the vascular endothelium).
Recently, the media reported that a 76-year-old man had a heart stent installed at the age of 62 due to myocardial infarction. At first, the old man thought that he would not be able to live for a few years. After he was discharged from the hospital, he had been shrouded in the shadow of anxiety and tension, always afraid that his heart infarction would recur. In order to solve the patient's worries, the doctor formulated a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for him. It is worth learning that this old man insisted on implementing the rehabilitation plan given by the doctor. 15 years have passed. The old man’s myocardial infarction has never relapsed and he feels that he is living and healthier. The old man said that he didn't have any secrets, he just insisted on doing the following things all the year round:
1. Follow the doctor's advice and insist on medication. Hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia are the root causes of coronary atherosclerosis. Adhering to the use of antihypertensive drugs, hypoglycemic drugs and lipid-lowering drugs is the foundation of improving "water quality" and maintaining "pipelines". There is also the risk of thrombus regeneration after stent, so it is necessary to insist on taking antiplatelet aggregation and anticoagulant drugs. Taking the medicine as prescribed by the doctor is the basis for rehabilitation after stent operation and prevention of thrombosis recurrence.
2. Eat healthy, quit smoking and alcohol. High-salt, high-sugar, and high-fat diets will cause blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids to rise, which is extremely detrimental to the prevention of atherosclerosis; patients must adhere to a low-calorie, light diet unless they are low in weight. Smoking and drinking can cause direct damage to the vascular endothelium, and can also cause dyslipidemia, vasospasm, and arrhythmia, which are detrimental to the patient's recovery and must be completely quit.
3, do what you can and exercise appropriately. Practice has proved that the strength of exercise ability is directly related to the quality of heart function, and the improvement of exercise ability can also represent the degree of recovery of heart function. Patients after stenting should consult their doctors to develop a safe and effective exercise rehabilitation program for themselves. Generally speaking, patients should maintain 50-80% of their maximum exercise tolerance, exercise 30-60 minutes each time, and exercise at least 3-5 days a week. How to exercise patients after stents should follow the doctor's advice and adhere to the principle of doing what they can.
In addition to the above rehabilitation measures, maintaining a peaceful state of mind and a stable mood is also very beneficial to recovery after PCI. A very important thing is to go back to the hospital for review regularly and adjust your rehabilitation plan according to the doctor's recommendations. In normal times, patients and their families should pay special attention to indicators such as weight, waist circumference, blood pressure and blood sugar. Once these indicators are found to fluctuate by more than 10% in a short period of time, they should return to the hospital for follow-up consultations. By doing so, on the one hand, the illness can be prevented from recurring, and the other party can also adjust the rehabilitation plan in time. If everyone does this, they will live healthier and healthier like that old man.
