Sudden death, the "fatal moment" for patients with hypertension, must not be ignored

Ms. Wang was washing clothes at home at noon. After washing for a while, she stood up and suddenly felt a severe headache. Then she fainted, lost consciousness and vomited. Her family thought that she would get better after a while, so they didn't take it seriously at first. But after half an hour, they found that her condition was getting worse and her breathing was rapid, so they called 120.

However, after being sent to the emergency room, his breathing stopped and his blood pressure could not be measured. He eventually died after failed rescue efforts.

This is another tragedy caused by high blood pressure. Before the fatal consequences occurred, everyone thought "I'm fine", but ignored the precursor to the storm - headache!

So what should patients with hypertension do when they suddenly experience symptoms such as headache, chest tightness, paroxysmal vertigo, and numbness in the limbs?

First of all, you should immediately stop your current activities, rest in bed, measure your blood pressure by yourself or with the help of your family, and take antihypertensive drugs. If the situation is serious, you need to go to the hospital for treatment in time.

In daily life, how should we pay attention to avoid sudden attacks of hypertension?

1. Keep monitoring your blood pressure

The correct way to measure blood pressure at home is :

1) Do not eat, drink, smoke or exercise 30 minutes before measuring blood pressure.

2) Before measuring blood pressure, empty your body and sit in a chair with a backrest for 5 minutes.

3) The subject should not move or speak, with both feet flat on the ground and forearms on the table so that the upper arm with the cuff is at the same level as the heart.

4) The cuff is wrapped around the upper arm, with the air bag concentrated on the front surface of the upper arm. The lower edge of the cuff is 2 cm away from the elbow, and the air bag should be placed at the level of the heart.

5) Keep accurate records of your blood pressure, including the date and time of measurement. It is best to keep your blood pressure within a range of 130-140 mmHg systolic and 80-90 mmHg diastolic [1].

The impact of summer on blood pressure varies from person to person, so you should not relax your blood pressure monitoring. If conditions permit, it is best to have a blood pressure monitor at home and measure yourself every day. If you cannot measure yourself, you should go to the clinic to measure every 3-5 days, and the longest interval should not exceed 1 week.

If the temperature changes significantly, shorten the measurement interval. If you find that the difference in blood pressure between day and night is large or fluctuates irregularly, you should go to the hospital for 24-hour dynamic blood pressure monitoring in time , and take corresponding measures as prescribed by the doctor.

2. Pay attention to cooling down, avoiding the heat, and drinking more water

Blood pressure fluctuations in summer are mainly caused by hot weather. When using air conditioning, the temperature should not be set too low, and it is enough to keep it at 27-28℃ , otherwise it is easy to cause the vascular regulation function of hypertensive patients to be disordered, leading to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents.

The most recommended sport is swimming. Swimming can not only take away excess heat from the body, cool down and relieve summer heat, but also consume excess energy, lower blood lipids and blood sugar, reduce fat storage, and strengthen the body.

People sweat a lot in the summer, so patients with hypertension should pay attention to replenishing water at any time in the summer to reduce blood viscosity. Under normal ambient temperature, a person needs to consume about 2300 ml of water a day, and excrete about 2300 ml of water. However, in the hot summer, the body's excretion can reach 3300 ml, and during high-intensity exercise, the body's excretion can reach up to 6600 ml [2]. Therefore, the corresponding amount of water intake should be adjusted. Drinking boiled water or low-salt water with a salt content of no more than 1% can effectively replenish water.

3. Eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep

People with hypertension should strictly control their salt intake . High salt is an important factor that increases blood pressure. The daily salt intake of patients with hypertension should be controlled below 5 grams.

Eat more fresh fruits, vegetables and soy products rich in potassium and calcium, control excessive intake of fat and cereal carbohydrates in your daily diet, increase the intake of high-quality protein. In addition, you can drink some milk and tea every day, but do not drink alcohol.

The hot and humid weather in summer can easily reduce sleep quality, which can seriously affect the stability of blood pressure[3]. Hypertensive patients may experience elevated blood pressure at night, aggravating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular damage. Therefore, in summer, we must take measures to prevent heatstroke and reduce temperature to ensure normal sleep[4].

References

[1] Zhao Hong. Guidelines for the prevention and control of hypertension in summer [J]. PLA Health 2015, 3.16

[2] Chen Hongtao. Summer health tips for patients with hypertension [J]. Proceedings of the 8th Jiangxi Province Symposium on Integrating Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine to Promote Blood Circulation and Eliminate Addiction and Training Course on Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases. 118-120

[3] Zheng Deqiang. What should patients with hypertension pay attention to in summer? [J]. Health Care and Health Guidance. 130

[4] Wang Hong. Precautions for patients with hypertension in summer [J]. Column·Health.96