If you want to use your heart stent longer, learn these good methods from your doctor

Many heart patients ask: How many years can a heart stent be used?

In fact, stents do not have a fixed lifespan. How long you can use them is up to you! Some patients can use them safely for decades, while others develop stenosis or even blockage just a few months after implantation. The reason for the huge difference is closely related to the maintenance method of the stent!

If you want your heart stent to last longer, you can’t do these 3 things! You can do these 3 things! You must do these 3 things!

1. Don’t do these three things

5. 1. Do not stop taking medication at will Antiplatelet drugs such as aspirin are the most important guarantee for protecting the patency of the stent, and must be taken regularly every day to provide continuous protection. Stopping medication at will, reducing medication, or not taking medication on time will greatly increase the risk of stenosis or even blockage in the stent.

6. 2. Chinese medicine cannot replace Western medicine Many patients worry that long-term medication after stenting will hurt the stomach or cause adverse reactions such as bleeding, so they use Chinese medicine instead of Western medicine. This is very dangerous! Doing so will not only weaken the thrombus inhibition effect, leading to a greatly increased risk of thrombus in the stent, but also cause liver and kidney damage due to substandard Chinese medicine.

7. 3. Do not increase the dosage of medication at will Some patients will try to increase the dosage of medication to control symptoms when symptoms worsen. This often causes trouble. Because medications have safe dosages, and exceeding this range will cause obvious side effects. For example, aspirin is used to promote blood circulation, but taking too much can cause gastrointestinal bleeding; nitrates can dilate coronary arteries, but taking too much can cause hypotension.

2. Three things you can do

12. 1. You can eat meat and oil After the stent is implanted, you need to strengthen your lipid-lowering regimen, but that doesn't mean you can't eat meat. You can eat fish, chicken, pork and beef lean meat; and vegetable oils such as soybean oil and olive oil are also healthy choices.

13. 2. Exercise moderately Physical exercise after stent placement is beneficial to improving myocardial metabolism, but exercise needs to be of reasonable intensity, otherwise a sudden increase in cardiac oxygen consumption will aggravate myocardial ischemia. Heart rate can be used to assess exercise intensity, and the heart rate during exercise should not exceed: (maximum heart rate - resting heart rate) × 60% + resting heart rate.

14. 3. Can treat other diseases If you get other diseases after stent implantation, such as COVID-19 or influenza, will it affect the safety of the stent? This worry is unnecessary. As long as it does not interfere with the normal medication after the stent, it is safe to treat other diseases together.

3. Three things you must do

19. 1. You must quit smoking Tobacco contains tar, carbon monoxide, nicotine and other harmful substances, which not only damage the myocardium and blood vessel walls, but also increase the probability of sudden thrombosis in the stent and even cause acute myocardial infarction.

20. 2. Blood sugar must be controlled Diabetes is one of the most important causes of coronary heart disease and often causes diffuse vascular disease; it can also damage the stent and greatly reduce the service life of the stent. Therefore, blood sugar control after stent surgery needs to be more stringent.

21. 3. Regular check-ups are required After stent surgery, a variety of drugs are taken, which are metabolized by the liver and kidneys, and can easily cause liver and kidney damage. Therefore, it is necessary to draw blood regularly to monitor liver and kidney function, so as to detect abnormalities in time and adjust treatment to avoid further damage. In addition, regular monitoring of blood routine can also detect gastrointestinal bleeding caused by oral antiplatelet drugs in time.

I am Dr. Zhang from the Department of Cardiology. If you like my popular science articles, please like them! Follow me to learn more about heart disease! You can also share this article with friends in need!