According to medical statistics, atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels is by far the most common cause of death. Many doctors consider him an insidious enemy of a person, since he may not be felt for a long time, and it is extremely difficult to diagnose him in the early stages. Atherosclerosis of the lower extremities is no less dangerous. Prevention is what WHO calls for all people to: carry out procedures to prevent such a dangerous disease, the main part of which is proper nutrition and physical activity.
What is atherosclerosis?
As medical statistics show, not tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, ozone holes or wars “mow” the human race. Mankind has an enemy worse than all natural disasters combined - this is its lifestyle, causing a disease such as atherosclerosis. Diagnosis, treatment, prevention of this disease should be a priority for physicians, and for their patients, and all healthy people in general.
Atherosclerosis is a vascular pathology associated with age-related, or under the influence of external factors, changes in the vessels. If 20 years ago this ailment was firmly associated with the elderly, today it is diagnosed in 16-year-old patients.
If we turn to the same statistics, then it has the following data: 85% of men and 76% of women die from pathological changes in the vessels and the diseases caused by them. That is why it is so important to convey this information to the population and explain to people why the prevention of atherosclerosis is necessary.
The cause of the ailment
To say that age-related changes in blood vessels in the direction of their compaction and clogging with cholesterol plaques is inevitable, not true. Medical practice knows that up to 10% of people aged 70-80 do not suffer from vascular atherosclerosis, although they have visible changes in the arteries (the inner tissue of the vessels is thinning, their lumen becomes narrower).
Blockage of the circulatory system by plaques and blood clots in middle-aged people (40-60 years) began to be diagnosed much more often than it was 30-50 years ago. This is due to several factors (by the way, they also negatively affect all people, regardless of their age):
- Bad habits: alcohol consumption, smoking, negative reaction to events leading to stressful situations.
- Overweight, malnutrition, lack of regimen in it, autoimmune diseases, abuse of diets for weight loss.
- Lack of physical activity.
Changes in the vascular system are also affected by gender (men are more susceptible to them), a hereditary predisposition and, in the last turn, age (the video below gives an explanation of what atherosclerosis is).
Important: since pathologies in the vessels begin to form in 10-15 years, from this age children should be accustomed to the prevention of atherosclerosis. The treatment of an existing disease is a long, expensive and often useless process, since the disease can be neglected.
Why is prevention ignored?
Why, even 50 years ago, statistics on this ailment were significantly lower? This is due not only to the fact that at that time on the shelves there were not so many unhealthy, and often dangerous foods, but also to the fact that in Soviet medicine there was such a thing as explanatory work with the population, during which it was said about the importance of prevention atherosclerosis including.
Medical workers came to the production and gave their employees information about the causes of various diseases, left the necessary literature for review and conducted a comprehensive examination to identify ailments at an early stage.
Today, both the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis are “laid down” on the shoulders of patients and their doctors. How they cope, shows statistics on mortality caused by pathologies in the cardiovascular system. How to detect the presence of the disease in order to diagnose it in a timely manner? You should listen to your body, which "speaks" of the condition of the arteries through the symptoms.
Symptoms of the disease
So, if a person leads an unhealthy lifestyle, consumes a lot of refined foods, instant food and convenience foods, then by the age of 35-40 he may well get problems with the vessels. They can manifest as various symptoms. If pathologies concern the heart, then they are as follows:
- Pressive dull pain in the chest, transmitted to the shoulder blade, forearm or wrist.
- Pain when inhaling and exhaling.
- Heaviness (as if a load was placed) in the region of the heart.
- Pressure surges, increased sweating, followed by cold chills.
These symptoms clearly indicate pathologies in the coronary system that could have been avoided if a person, as a prophylaxis of atherosclerosis, had only reduced (or removed) from his diet the consumption of animal fats, trans fats (margarine), strong tea and coffee, fast foods and others similar products.
Pathologies in the vessels of the hands and feet
Atherosclerosis of the limbs is indicated by:
- Coldness of legs and arms.
- Pale skin.
- Pain in the thighs, buttocks and calf muscles, provoking temporary lameness in a person.
- Swelling and the appearance of trophic ulcers.
If the doctor had a similar history and revealed the disease after the diagnosis, the prevention of atherosclerosis is already too late, as in this case urgent treatment is required. If the patient paid due attention to physical activity, arranged fasting days and took vitamin complexes, then this problem could have been avoided.
Pathologies in the vessels of the brain
Prevention of cerebral arteriosclerosis should be carried out starting from 15-20 years of age, since it is from this disease that such a high mortality rate in the world. They say about the presence of an ailment:
- Bursting or pressing headaches.
- Appearing varying degrees of loudness ringing and tinnitus.
- Sleep problems and mood swings.
- Intermittent breathing, incoherent speech, increased swallowing, as if choking on food.
- Problem with coordination of movements.
Why should preventive measures begin so early? The fact is that it is often very difficult to instill healthy eating habits in young people, given that they prefer pizza to soup, and hamburger and french fries, which are generously filled with carbonated drinks, over vegetable salad.
Prevention is a conscious concern for your health, which is so lacking for modern people living in the world of high technology and surrogate food. But the prevention of the disease is also different.
What is prevention?
Medicine divides the measures that prevent the disease into 2 types:
- The primary prevention of atherosclerosis is work with people who have no signs of illness, and it is carried out with different age categories, starting with children.
- Secondary prevention is associated with patients who already have a disease. It consists in the exact implementation of all the recommendations of doctors and depends on the integrity of the patients themselves.
Part of the work in the first type of prevention is assigned to the state, which should implement programs to improve the nation and improve the environmental situation in the regions.
What is included in primary prevention?
So, what is the state capable of doing so that the people who inhabit it live long and be full members of society? As a prophylaxis of atherosclerosis, it can be:
- Activities related to vaccination of people of all age categories against influenza and infectious diseases.
- Implementation in preschool and school institutions of mandatory programs for physical education, sports and strengthening immunity.
- Monitoring and, if possible, changing the ecological environment, for example, installing air and water filters in enterprises or closing down hazardous industries.
- Adding the right amount of useful elements for a person (for example, iodine, chromium, selenium or vanadium) in water and products.
- Ban on the production of products containing trans fats harmful to humans, food (artificial) additives or dyes.
- An increase in the production of sugar-free foods, a decrease in the production of high-calorie foods, for example, sweets, white bread, and their replacement with flour products made from wholemeal flour.
- Stimulating the population to participate in sporting events.
- Conducting annual medical examinations.
- Promotion of a healthy lifestyle.
- The fight against smoking and alcohol consumption.
All of these measures are included in the concept of primary prevention of atherosclerosis.
Secondary prevention
What to do to people who already have this disease? In this case, it is necessary to undergo a full medical examination to find out at what stage the disease is, what damage it managed to inflict on the body, and how dangerous they are.
Against the background of drug therapy prescribed by the doctor as an independent work, patients should adhere to a diet, perform physical exercises daily and supplement treatment with alternative recipes.
What is impossible with the prevention of atherosclerosis?
First of all, you should exclude some products from the menu once and for all. It:
- Confectionery and muffin.
- Any fatty foods and simple (fast) carbohydrates.
- High glucose fruit.
- Smoked meats.
- Fast food and fried foods.
- Soda.
If you remove these products from the children's menu, it will be the best prevention of cerebral atherosclerosis. Healthy eating habits acquired from childhood remain with a person for life, and sometimes he passes them on to his children and grandchildren, thereby creating a reserve for the quality and duration of life in the family for many generations to come.
What is allowed?
As a prevention, you can:
- Fish and seafood. They must be present in the diet at least 1 time per week.
- Vegetables and fruits, preferably fresh.
- Porridge on the water.
- Lean meat.
- Vegetable oils.
If you still replace fried foods with steamed, cooked and stewed, then you can not be afraid of arteriosclerosis.
The concept of physical activity
Of course, the best option is sports, but even if there is no location or enough time for it, then physical activity can include:
- Walking at an accelerated pace so that breathing and pulse become more frequent (at least half an hour). Many doctors advise using walking to work and back as exercise. Advice is good if the movement does not take place along a road.
- 15 minute charge. One morning charge will not be enough if the rest of the day a person lies when he sleeps, or sits when he works. But even it should be quite intense, as they say, before evaporating on the forehead.
- Run. It is recommended only to people with a healthy heart, otherwise the prevention of cerebral arteriosclerosis or the coronary system will result in a deterioration in well-being or hospitalization.
- Yoga. It is recognized as the best tool as a prophylaxis, as it not only provides the necessary physical activity, but also retains flexibility in the body and healthy joints.
Any of the listed methods will prevent the formation of pathologies in the human vascular system.
Folk remedies for the treatment of vascular pathologies
For centuries, people have studied the effect of certain gifts of nature on the body and various ailments. Prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis also has its own “set” of recipes that are effective and can help the patient completely get rid of the disease. Here are some of those that people used to prevent atherosclerosis:
- Pour a glass of boiling water 1 tbsp. a collection spoon of chamomile, string, sage, St. John's wort and plantain. Insist, then, if necessary, heat to body temperature, soak gauze folded in several layers in the infusion and apply a compress to the affected area. For prevention, carry out the procedure 1 time per day for 3 weeks. One course per year is enough.
Important: before applying the compress, the leg or arm section should be gently massaged to warm the skin and “disperse” the blood.
- For the prevention of atherosclerosis, it is recommended to rub a mixture of sea buckthorn and olive oil in a ratio of 1: 1 in the limbs. The course is 2 weeks.
- Foot bath with nettles. The best effect will be achieved if you take fresh grass. A large bunch of nettles should be poured with boiling water, insisted, and then diluted in containers for the procedure with hot water. Hold your feet in the bath for about 30 minutes.
- A proven tool for keeping vessels "clean" is a mixture of garlic, honey and lemon (1-2 tbsp. L. Lemon juice, garlic and honey). You can mix in any quantity, but take 1 teaspoon 3-4 times a day, while the mixture is fresh.
These funds are good even with an already diagnosed disease, but they should be carried out only after consulting a doctor.
It is important to remember that the prevention of atherosclerosis is a normal healthy lifestyle, which includes moderate physical activity, good nutrition, a positive attitude and no bad habits.