During the Spring Festival, if you have a sudden heart attack, which emergency medicine should you choose? Check out the expert summary!

Cardiologists are always busy during the Spring Festival. They treat patients with angina pectoris and heart failure, as well as patients with acute myocardial infarction and acute left heart failure.

During the Spring Festival, if a heart attack occurs, how should we choose medication to save ourselves?

01. Commonly used emergency medicines

In fact, there are many types of heart disease, which can be roughly divided into: cardiovascular stenosis disease, heart beating disease, also known as arrhythmia disease, and heart function disease, also known as heart failure disease.

However, whether it is a rapid arrhythmia or a chronic arrhythmia, that is, whether the heart rate is more than 200 beats/minute or less than 30 beats/minute, there is currently no emergency medicine for self-rescue. You can only seek medical treatment in time. After the doctor uses an electrocardiogram to determine which type of arrhythmia it is, he can give accurate rescue measures.

If the heart failure is a chronic heart failure that is gradually getting worse, you can go to the hospital for treatment on your own. For example, if the chest tightness and shortness of breath have worsened recently, or the lower limbs are swollen, and you often cannot lie flat at night and need to sit up passively. If these symptoms are suspected to be worsening, you must see a doctor as soon as possible. There is no emergency medicine for heart failure.

For sudden acute left heart failure, that is, sudden difficulty breathing, if there is oxygen, you can breathe it, but there is no specific medicine that can relieve it immediately, so you must see a doctor immediately. If you have a diuretic, such as furosemide or hydrochlorothiazide, you can take 40mg of furosemide or 50mg of hydrochlorothiazide. However, oral drugs are basically no solution for acute left heart failure, so you must see a doctor as soon as possible, and only after going to the hospital can you be successfully rescued.

When we talk about emergency heart medicine, we generally refer to emergency medicine for angina pectoris.

1. Nitroglycerin

Studies have shown that nitroglycerin is effective for most cases of angina pectoris. Nitroglycerin can dilate blood vessels, thereby relieving cardiovascular stenosis, improving myocardial ischemia, and thus controlling angina pectoris.

Therefore, nitroglycerin is the most commonly used cardiovascular emergency medicine. However, not all angina pectoris is suitable for nitroglycerin. For example, people who have been allergic to nitrate drugs, or people who take Viagra, or people with untreated glaucoma are not suitable for taking nitroglycerin.

Another point that must be emphasized is that nitroglycerin is a drug that dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure, so it cannot be used by patients with low blood pressure.

Therefore, when angina pectoris occurs, if there are no above contraindications and there is no hypotension, you can immediately take 1 nitroglycerin sublingually. If there is no relief within 3 minutes, you can take it again, but it is not recommended to take it more than 3 times. If you take it more than 3 times, on the one hand, it may cause hypotension, and on the other hand, it means that the medicine is ineffective. You must call 120 immediately, and myocardial infarction may have occurred at this time.

2. Jiuxin Pills

If you don't have nitroglycerin at home or it is not suitable for sublingual nitroglycerin, you can choose to take sublingual Jiuxin Pills.

Jiuxin Pills generally have no obvious side effects and will not affect blood pressure, so these people can take Jiuxin Pills sublingually. Of course, if nitroglycerin can be taken sublingually, it is recommended to take nitroglycerin first. Jiuxin Pills are only recommended when nitroglycerin is not available or is not suitable for taking nitroglycerin.

If taking Jiuxin Pills multiple times does not relieve the symptoms, you must call 120 immediately, because if angina pectoris persists for more than 15 minutes, myocardial infarction should be highly suspected.

3. Other drugs

aspirin

Strictly speaking, aspirin is not an emergency medicine. It is only for confirmed myocardial infarction that 300 mg of aspirin needs to be taken immediately. Aspirin cannot relieve angina pectoris, nor can it directly open blood vessels. Aspirin is a drug that inhibits platelet aggregation and prevents the aggravation of thrombosis.

Therefore, when you suspect you have a heart attack, no matter what kind of heart attack you have, it is not recommended to take aspirin immediately. This is because aspirin is not an emergency medicine and may not help you even if you take it.

The most important thing is that if it is not myocardial infarction but aortic dissection, then taking aspirin is still dangerous. Because the symptoms of acute myocardial infarction and aortic dissection are often the same, we cannot accurately judge whether it is myocardial infarction based on chest pain before doing an electrocardiogram.

Aortic dissection causes bleeding from the largest blood vessel in the human body. If you take aspirin at this time, it will aggravate the bleeding.

Danshen tablets, what kind of heart pills...

There are many so-called emergency medicines for heart disease, which are not mentioned in the current guidelines. If you don't have other medicines and you are not allergic to these so-called emergency medicines, you can take them. But these are so-called emergency medicines, not recognized emergency medicines.

02. Prevention is the best first aid

In fact, the best first aid method is still prevention. If we do a good job of prevention and do not get sick, then naturally there is no need for first aid.

1. Take medicine regularly

A major cause of heart disease for some of the patients we rescued, including those with angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and heart failure, was irregular medication.

Whether it is aspirin and statins for the treatment of coronary heart disease and the prevention of angina and myocardial infarction, or drugs such as lol, pril/sartan, spironolactone, and gliflozin for the treatment of heart failure, they should all be taken for a long time under the guidance of a doctor, whether it is New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, they should be taken regularly.

Of course, it also includes drugs to lower blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids.
Once these drugs are discontinued, the condition will recur and angina pectoris, myocardial infarction or heart failure may occur.

2. Monitor blood pressure, blood sugar and heart rate

Increased blood pressure, increased blood sugar, and accelerated heart rate can induce angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and acute left heart failure. Therefore, for friends with cardiovascular diseases, it is necessary to monitor blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate.

Especially during the Chinese New Year, the large number of people, the excitement, the happiness, the changes in life patterns, etc. will affect blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate. Everyone should monitor their blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate, and correct any problems in a timely manner.

3. Healthy living is the foundation

Friends with clear cardiovascular diseases should try to live a regular life, without making too much difference from usual life.

Don’t be so happy that your relatives and friends come over or your children come back home that you forget to take your medicine or measure your blood pressure and blood sugar.

If you also eat and drink too much, smoke and drink, do not go to bed on time, sit for several hours without moving, etc., all these will increase the risk of angina pectoris or myocardial infarction.

Therefore, you should adhere to a long-term healthy diet, exercise appropriately, do not stay up late, do not smoke or drink, etc.

In short, whether it is New Year's Eve or New Year's Day,

We should all maintain our normal living habits.

You can be happy and excited, but you must never get carried away!

End

Source: Cardiovascular Doctor Wang