Uncle Niu attended a funeral again, and this is his third time. For such an occasion, he felt a little helpless. When Uncle Niu talks about growing old in life, he always uses "can't escape a dead word" to describe it. He believed that the more he feared death, the more death would come. At these funerals, his old friends died one after another, as if to silently tell him that life would eventually return to dust.
However, what worries Uncle Niu is that these three old friends have all passed away due to cancer. One suffered from lung cancer due to long-term smoking, another suffered from liver cancer due to excessive drinking, and even one died from kidney cancer.
Still, the word cancer was a slap in the face, striking him hard at the heart. Because he heard too much news about his death due to cancer, coupled with his own poor heart, Uncle Niu began to worry about whether he would suffer from cancer due to heart problems, and even couldn't sleep at night.
Fortunately, Uncle Niu's daughter comforted him and pointed out that his heart would not suffer from cancer, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Uncle Niu thought for a moment, and it seemed that this was indeed the case, but he was still puzzled about why the heart was not prone to cancer.
In our daily life, we can often hear words about "cancer", such as liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, etc., and it seems that every organ of the human body can suffer from cancer. However, there are very few reports of cardiac cancer. Why is there so little cancer in the heart?
First of all, the heart is not susceptible to cancer and its tissue structure is closely related. The heart is mainly composed of myocardium, and cardiomyocytes are a type of terminally differentiated cells, that is, they no longer proliferate and ** after human birth, and their number always remains the same. In contrast, the occurrence of cancer is mainly due to the continuous differentiation and proliferation of cancer cells. As a result, the heart is less susceptible to cancer due to cell proliferation** because the number of heart cells remains stable from birth to death.
Secondly, the unique anatomical location of the heart is also one of the things that prevents it from developing cancer. The closed circulation between the heart and blood vessels, combined with the heart at the heart of the body, makes it less vulnerable to direct attack by carcinogens from the outside world. At the same time, although the organs around the heart can be cancerous, the heart area is isolated by pericardial tissue, making it difficult for the tumor to invade the heart.
In summary, the combination of a stable number of heart cells, a unique anatomical location, and protection by pericardial tissue makes the heart relatively less susceptible to cancer.
Although the heart is relatively less susceptible to cancer, heart-related diseases are common, especially among middle-aged and elderly people, heart diseases have become a high-incidence group, among which coronary heart disease and myocardial infarction are particularly prominent.
Some people suddenly have a heart "pop" in their daily life, and sometimes they wonder if they have a heart attack?
In fact, in medicine, there is a technical term for a sudden clatter of the heart, which is called premature cardiac beat. The beating of the heart is a complex physiological system, and each diastole and contraction follows a certain pattern. The heart can get a moment of rest when the body relaxes and relaxes during the night, and the demand for blood decreases. If you stay up late or don't get enough rest, it may affect the normal work of the sinus node, resulting in abnormal premature heart beats, and then the symptoms of a few beats of the heart.
Therefore, a few beats of the heart are not a precursor to a heart attack, but a manifestation of a premature heart beat.
The heart, this toiling organ, works for us day and night until the end of our lives. However, nowadays, due to factors such as work pressure and poor lifestyle habits, heart disease is gradually showing a trend of younger people. For young people to self-check their heart health, there are three easy ways to try:
First, climb the stairs. A recent study by the University Hospital of Coruña in Spain found that if you can climb 4 flights of stairs in 1 minute, it means a healthier heart. The metabolic equivalent produced during the stairs climbing, i.e., the amount of oxygen required to maintain resting metabolism, is an indicator of cardiorespiratory function. Clinically, one metabolic equivalent is equal to oxygen consumption35 ml (kg·min). People who reached 10 units of metabolic equivalent had a 1% lower risk of death. Thus, climbing 4 flights of stairs in 1 minute allows a person to reach 9-10 metabolic equivalents.
Second, lift heavy objects. In daily life, heart health can also be detected by lifting heavy objects. For example, when the item being extracted is slightly heavier, feels uncomfortable, chest tightness, or even symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath, it may be a precursor to coronary heart disease and needs to be vigilant.
Finally, a simplified version of the "Exercise Plate Load Test" is performed – running two steps briskly. This test increases the heart's workload by running briskly, thereby increasing the oxygen consumption of the heart muscle and aiding in the diagnosis of occult coronary artery disease. If you experience symptoms such as chest tightness, shortness of breath, and chest pain after running two steps, it may be due to the blockage of blood vessels caused by coronary heart disease, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the heart, which should be paid attention to.
In the self-test, if there is a problem with the heart, it is necessary to go further to the hospital for examination. There are many ways to perform cardiac examinations, and three of the more common ones have their own advantages and disadvantages.
1. Coronary angiography
By observing the coronary arteries of the heart, doctors can clearly understand the thickness of the arteries and provide a basis for subsequent programs. This is the "gold standard" for diagnosing coronary heart disease, and the procedure is relatively safe and can be performed with a stent implant when coronary stenosis is found**. However, this test requires femoral or radial artery puncture, is a minimally invasive procedure, and requires absolute bed rest for 24 hours after surgery.
2. Cardiac color ultrasound
A type of ultrasound that is finer and clearer than ordinary B-ultrasound. It provides a comprehensive view of the structure of the heart, knowing the direction and speed of blood flow, as well as the movement of the heart muscle and the heart's ability to pump blood. Although ultrasonography cannot determine the exact location of coronary artery obstruction, it is helpful to assess whether coronary artery bypass surgery is feasible.
3. Electrocardiogram examination
By observing the heart's rhythm, doctors can tell if there is a problem with the heart. ECG is safe, easy, non-invasive, suitable for cases with obvious symptoms, and can achieve a high diagnostic rate. However, in the absence of symptoms, the ECG may show normal results, so it is best to check it when you have symptoms. In addition to the regular ECG, there is also a 24-hour Holter ECG, which can monitor the heartbeat around the clock and improve the detection rate of arrhythmias, but the examination takes a long time.
Overall, heart health is of paramount importance to us. In normal times, we should pay attention to protecting the heart, change bad habits, maintain optimism, exercise moderately, control weight, and maintain a reasonable diet.