Ischemia of the heart (ischemic disease) is a chronic local oxygen starvation of the heart muscle (myocardium), caused by insufficient blood supply due to coronary artery disease, the only source of blood supply to the myocardium.
Heart ischemia - risk factors
Allocate circumstances, the presence of which predisposes to the development of cardiac ischemia. We list the main of them:
- elderly age;
- high blood pressure;
- diabetes;
- obesity;
- smoking;
- alcohol abuse;
- insufficient motor activity;
- excessive physical activity.
Causes of cardiac ischemia
At the heart of this pathology is myocardial damage due to insufficient supply of blood. Thus, there is a disturbance in the balance between the needs of the cardiac muscle in the blood supply and the actual intake of blood. There may be several reasons for this:
- narrowing of the lumen of the coronary arteries due to atherosclerotic phenomena;
- thrombosis and thromboembolism of coronary arteries;
- spasm of coronary arteries;
- hypertrophy (increase) of the myocardium;
- tachycardia;
- arterial hypertension.
The main cause of heart ischemia is still the atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. In this case, the insufficiency of the blood supply, and, consequently, the oxygen hunger, is associated with the narrowing of the vessels due to the formation of plaques on their internal walls.
Signs of cardiac ischemia
The most characteristic symptoms of heart ischemia are:
- chest pain that occurs after physical exertion or stress;
- shortness of breath ;
- interruptions in the heart, heart rhythm disturbances;
- weakness;
- manifestations of heart failure - swelling beginning with the lower limbs, dyspnea, increasing in the horizontal position, dizziness, etc.
There is a classification of ischemia of the heart according to clinical signs, which considers the following forms of the disease:
- sudden coronary death (with a successful resuscitation or fatal outcome);
- angina pectoris;
- myocardial infarction ;
- postinfarction cardiosclerosis;
- heart failure;
- heart failure.
How to treat ischemia of the heart?
Principles of treatment of cardiac ischemia directly depend on the form of the disease. There are a number of groups of drugs that are prescribed for use in one form or another. Among the drugs that are recommended for cardiac ischemia, the following basic drugs can be noted:
- antiplatelet agents (acetylsalicylic acid, clopidogrel, etc.) - agents that improve fluidity of the blood;
- β-adrenoblockers (metoprolol, bisoprolol, carvedilol) - tablets for the treatment of cardiac ischemia, which reduce the heart rate, thereby reducing the need for oxygen consumption by myocardium;
- cholesterol reducing drugs (lovastatin, simvastatin, rosuvastatin, etc.) - to reduce the rate of development of existing atherosclerotic plaques and prevent the emergence of new
- anticoagulants - drugs that help prevent the formation of blood clots;
- diuretics are substances that accelerate the excretion of fluid from the body, thereby contributing to a reduction in the volume of circulating blood and a decrease in the burden on the myocardium.
Other methods of treatment are: hirudotherapy, shock wave therapy, stem cell therapy, quantum therapy, etc. In some cases, surgical treatment is recommended.
Treatment of cardiac ischemia with folk remedies
Traditional medicine recommends supplementing the traditional treatment of cardiac ischemia with the following prescriptions.
Decoction of birch buds:
- 10 g of birch buds pour a glass of water.
- Boil for 15 minutes over low heat.
- Take a tablespoon 5 times a day.
Mixture of lemon with garlic and honey:
- Scroll through the meat grinder 5 lemons with peel and the same number of peeled garlic heads.
- Add 0.5 kg of honey.
- Stir and insist 10 days in a cool place.
- Take a tablespoon in the morning and evening for half an hour before meals.