[9.29 World Heart Disease Day] Protect every heart health with heart

September 29th is the 23rd World Heart Day. This year's theme is " Use Heart for Every Heart ", calling on everyone to stop and think about how to use their hearts better for all mankind, for nature, and for each of us on this special day. Overcoming cardiovascular disease (CVD) is important for every beating heart!

World Heart Day was established by the World Heart Federation in 1999 and is held annually. September 24, 2000 was the first World Heart Day, and the last Sunday of September has been World Heart Day since then. Since 2011, the date of World Heart Day has been changed to September 29. Its purpose is to popularize knowledge about heart health around the world and make everyone realize the importance of heart health to life.

Theme Interpretation

In reality, access to CVD treatment and support varies widely around the world. More than 75% of cardiovascular disease deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. By participating in global events such as World Heart Day and community activities, we have the ability to educate and help change the lives of all people. Air pollution accounts for 25% of deaths from CVD, claiming 7 million lives each year. Whether it is more immediate actions such as walking or cycling instead of driving, or longer-term efforts such as supporting the use of clean air and green energy, we can all contribute to a healthier planet in our own way. In addition, personal psychological stress can double the risk of heart attack. Moderate physical activity, meditation, and getting enough quality sleep can help reduce stress levels. By resisting harmful coping mechanisms caused by stress, we can maximize our protection of our heart health.
The important role of cardiac rehabilitation in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases

The Chinese Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases emphasized the positive significance of lifestyle intervention (dietary nutrition, weight control, increased physical activity, smoking control, alcohol restriction, and comprehensive intervention of multiple lifestyles) for the prevention of common cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and coronary heart disease in the 2020 "Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in China". The guidelines recommend that adults perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, or at least 75 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise per week, which can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease in adults by 1.4%. Regular exercise helps maintain vascular elasticity, improve cardiopulmonary function, reduce blood lipid concentrations, and relieve anxiety and depression. So how should the elderly or patients with other chronic diseases maintain cardiovascular health? The guidelines also mentioned that even if the amount of exercise for healthy adults is not achieved, daily physical activity should be maintained according to physical conditions to avoid sitting or long-term bed rest. It is worth noting that office workers who are accustomed to sitting for a long time and individuals with cardiovascular disease risk factors are recommended to go to the rehabilitation medicine department for exercise risk assessment before exercising, and obtain appropriate individualized exercise prescriptions from rehabilitation doctors. After all, scientific and effective exercise can last longer!

The important role of cardiac rehabilitation in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

For patients who already have cardiovascular diseases, whether it is coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation or even chronic heart failure, cardiac rehabilitation intervention is required. The latest concept in the "Chinese Expert Consensus on Cardiac Rehabilitation for Chronic Heart Failure" published in the Chinese Journal of Internal Medicine in 2020 shows that early rehabilitation treatment can be carried out in the unstable period of heart failure, as well as the rational selection of various cardiopulmonary endurance assessment methods, which is more suitable for the development of cardiac rehabilitation in my country and the gradual realization of the hospital-community-family closed-loop rehabilitation management model. Assessment is the prerequisite for cardiac rehabilitation, which helps to understand the patient's overall condition, risk stratification, and various factors affecting efficacy and prognosis, develop the most optimized training plan for patients, and achieve comprehensive and full-process management of cardiovascular disease. Rehabilitation treatment for cardiovascular disease is mainly divided into the following stages:

Early mobilization (Phase I rehabilitation) is based on the results of the initial rehabilitation assessment. Low-intensity resistance exercise (small dumbbells, elastic bands, sandbags), joint mobilization, and respiratory muscle training (pursed lip breathing, abdominal breathing) are recommended. The goal of this stage is to get out of bed as soon as possible and reduce the adverse effects and complications of bed rest.

In hospitals and outpatient clinics of primary hospitals (Phase II rehabilitation), whether ECG and blood pressure monitoring are needed will be determined based on the results of risk stratification assessment.

Patients undergoing home rehabilitation (stage III rehabilitation) can choose remote home monitoring, carry out exercise training as prescribed by doctors, record daily in the form of exercise diaries, and have regular outpatient follow-up visits to adjust the plan. Through safe and effective exercise therapy, sympathetic nerve activity can be reduced, the regulation of the heart by the autonomic nervous system can be improved, and the sensitivity of pulmonary artery pressure receptors can be increased, which plays an important protective role in the cardiopulmonary function and ventricular remodeling of patients with cardiovascular diseases.

The above is the introduction to the theme of this year’s Heart Disease Day, as well as the important role that our rehabilitation medicine plays in cardiovascular diseases. I hope that this knowledge can help everyone realize the importance of the heart, the only organ that the human body can feel and hear, to the life of each of us. We should pay attention to it and call on our family members to truly protect the health of every heart!

The popular science content of this platform has been funded by the China Association for Science and Technology's Science Popularization Department's 2022 National Science Literacy Action Project "National Society Science Popularization Capacity Improvement Project-Rehabilitation Science Popularization Service Capacity Improvement Action Plan"