Disclaimer: The content of this article is written with authoritative medical data combined with personal opinions, and the source of the literature and screenshots have not been marked in the article, please be aware.
"I'm really going to lose weight!" Auntie Zhang is a 58-year-old retired secondary school teacher who has always been very health-conscious. However, her weight has increased year by year in recent years, especially after entering her 50s, and she has found it increasingly difficult to control her weight.
Although she tried some weight loss methods, she always fished for three days and dried the net for two days, and the effect was not obvious. One day, when Aunt Zhang was reading The Lancet magazine, she happened to see a research result of Professor Li Liming's team at the School of Public Health of Peking University.
Studies have shown that in the age group of 45 to 60 years, the risk of heart attack can be greatly reduced through effective weight control. The discovery shocked Auntie Zhang, who realized that her weight problem might have posed a threat to her heart health.
Middle-aged and elderly people should maintain a stable weight to reduce the risk of heart disease
We all know that the heart is an irreplaceable organ for the body. For example, when some patients have a broken or amputated limb in an accident, although it will cause physical pain and psychological effects, it is not fatal. And if a person does not have a heart, there must be no way to survive, so why does the heart have such an important influence on the human body?
This also talks about the irreplaceability of the heart, because the heart is the only blood pumping organ in the human body, which pumps blood to various tissues of the body through regular and rhythmic contraction and relaxation, and at the same time carries waste materials back to the heart and then exchanges gas by the lungs, which is the core organ to maintain blood circulation. When there is a problem with the heart, it will induce a series of complications, and in severe cases, it can be life-threatening, and it is known as the "silent killer".
With the improvement of living standards, people are increasingly concerned about heart health and the importance of preventing heart disease. Many middle-aged and elderly people have begun to take measures such as exercising and going to bed early to reduce the degree of disease.
However, weight control is also an important factor in preventing heart disease, which is often overlooked.
This month, the high-profile journal The Lancet published a study led by Beiyu Canqing's team, which focused on data from more than 360,000 people from China's Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) and found a U-shaped relationship between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality in early adulthood.
The BMI corresponding to the lowest all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality was 21.5, and compared with the population with a BMI of 20.5-22.4, those with a lower BMI were associated with a 3% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease.
On the contrary, the higher the BMI value, the higher the risk of cardiovascular disease, showing a linear increase, and the participants with BMI in the range of 22.5-23.9, 24-25.9, 26-27.9, 28-29.9, and ≥30 increased the risk of cardiovascular disease by 4%, 12%, 19%, 34%, and 58%, respectively!
But have you ever wondered why weight gain increases the risk of cardiovascular disease?
As we have already introduced, the heart needs to pump blood to all parts of the body, and if you gain weight, the amount of blood pumped by the heart will also increase, just like what we usually say "overtime". In order to meet the demand, the heart will work more "hard", which will lead to hypertrophy over time, affect heart function, and even cause heart failure.
In addition to the direct effects on the heart, weight gain may also induce other cardiovascular diseases. For example, the well-known "hypertension", obesity is clinically believed to be one of the main causes of hypertension, long-term hypertension will increase the pressure of blood vessels, promote the process of atherosclerosis, and indirectly increase the risk of heart disease.
So, how can you avoid the negative effects of weight gain on heart health?
The answer is simple: to maintain a healthy weight, the BMI we mentioned above (BMI = weight (kg) / height (m)^2), the value between 18.5 - 24.9 is normal; Of course, it would be better to keep the BMI around 21.5, as mentioned in the above study, which corresponds to the lowest risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality!
For example, taking the average height of adult women in mainland China as one meter six, the weight is maintained at 55.04 kilograms, which is about 110 kilograms, so that the BMI is almost 21.5. At the same time, you may wish to try to "quit" the elevator in your life, and research shows that climbing the stairs every day is also beneficial to reduce the appearance of heart disease.
The research team of Peking University found that climbing stairs every day can reduce the risk of heart disease, but it should not be excessive
In 2023, scholars at Peking University published a study on the relationship between daily exercise and heart health.
They found that those who did a certain amount of stair climbing activity every day had a significantly lower risk of heart disease compared to those who did less stair climbing.
The results of the study show that compared with the people who do not climb the building, the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is reduced by climbing different floors every day, detailed data: the risk of climbing 1~5 floors of stairs per day is reduced by 3%, and the risk of climbing 6~10 floors, 11~15 floors, 16~20 floors and ≥21 floors per day is reduced by 16%, 22%, 23% and 19% respectively!
This result is the conclusion reached by scholars who analyzed nearly 460,000 people, and has a high degree of reliability. However, we would like to remind you to pay special attention to the following precautions when climbing stairs, especially for patients who already have heart disease.
Before carrying out the exercise plan, you should consult a professional doctor according to your physical condition whether it is suitable for stair climbing. If you are sure that your physical conditions allow, you should also pay attention to warming up to avoid cramps and accidental sprains in the middle of exercise.
During stair climbing, pay attention to moving forward at a constant speed and avoid rapid sprints, so as not to put too much pressure on the heart.
At the same time, try to keep the time of climbing the stairs to 10-15 minutes. If you push too hard, you can put multiple times the weight on your knee, especially when going downstairs. Without proper protection or excessive exercise intensity, doing so in the long term can indeed cause damage to the knee joint, causing problems such as cartilage wear and tear, arthritis, etc.
In addition, during the hot summer months, the condition of heart disease patients may also be affected, so here is a reminder that the elderly with heart disease need to pay special attention to two details to reduce the risk of heart attack.
In the hot summer, a tip for the elderly with heart disease: avoid sudden heart attack, pay attention to 2 details
Pay attention to blood pressure monitoring
In summer, when the temperature rises, the blood vessels in the body are easy to dilate and blood pressure may drop in order to facilitate blood flow.
For people with heart disease, especially older people, their blood vessels are often less elastic and their cardiac regulatory function is relatively weakened, so blood pressure may fluctuate more in the summer, which increases the risk of myocardial infarction.
High blood pressure is an important risk factor for heart attack, and high summer temperatures can cause blood pressure to rise, increase the burden on the heart, and cause angina pectoris or myocardial infarction. Low blood pressure can lead to insufficient blood supply to the heart, which also increases the risk of myocardial infarction. Therefore, patients with heart disease should pay close attention to blood pressure changes during the summer months to keep their blood pressure stable.
Avoid excessive temperature differences
In summer, in order to cope with the challenge of high temperatures, the human body will adopt a series of physiological adjustment mechanisms. One of the most notable is the dilation of blood vessels, which is designed to increase blood flow, which accelerates the release of heat from the body and helps maintain body temperature balance. However, when the temperature drops suddenly, the blood vessels contract rapidly to reduce heat loss, and this drastic vascular response can put additional stress on the heart.
In patients with heart disease, especially those with pre-existing plaque in the coronary arteries, this rapid change in blood vessels can lead to vasospasm, which in turn reduces blood flow, inducing angina or myocardial infarction.
In addition, the high summer heat also increases the workload on the heart, as the heart needs to work harder to maintain the balance of body temperature. This increased cardiac load, combined with an unstable response from the blood vessels, may further increase the risk of myocardial infarction. Therefore, patients with heart disease should take special care to avoid drastic temperature changes, maintain an appropriate room temperature, and take other precautions during the summer months to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction.
Sources:
[1] "How Much Do You Know About Heart Disease", Lu Na, 2024-04-01
[2] "Heart disease is easy to recur in summer", Hu Bingyan, 2006-07-30