Guidance for normal life of cardiovascular patients during epidemic prevention period

Today I’m going to talk to you about what heart patients should pay attention to at home.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with both morbidity and mortality exceeding that of cancer. Cardiac rehabilitation is a comprehensive disease management system that integrates multiple disciplines such as cardiovascular medicine, preventive medicine, sports medicine, rehabilitation, nutrition, psychology and behavioral medicine. There are currently 330 million cardiovascular disease patients in my country. For them, actively participating in cardiac rehabilitation management and treatment is the best way to reduce morbidity and mortality and improve their quality of life.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of patients with cardiovascular diseases and people at high risk of cardiovascular diseases (the elderly, those with hypertension, arrhythmias, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, chronic kidney disease, etc.) are staying at home. Reduced activity, irregular lifestyles, anxiety and depression will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, so more attention should be paid to the details of protecting the heart at home.

What can we do at home to help our hearts? The following five tips may help you.

Don't put too much pressure on your heart

1. Maintain a good attitude and avoid mental tension, depression, fear and other emotions. Rapid changes in mental state and excessive stress will increase the burden on the heart. Cardiovascular patients should try to maintain a relaxed mentality and all actions should be performed in a relaxed state as much as possible.

2. Avoid doing multiple exercises at the same time. Many behaviors in daily life will increase the heart load to varying degrees, such as eating, bathing, and exercising. Cardiovascular patients should avoid behaviors that double the heart load, such as exercising or bathing immediately after a full meal. Try to rest for 30 minutes after a meal before taking a bath or exercising.

3. Keep a relatively calm state before and after taking the medicine. The medicine will not start to work until some time after taking it, so you should avoid excessive exercise and keep a quiet state before and after taking the medicine.

| Monitor your vital signs daily

For patients with cardiovascular diseases, they need to pay attention to some obvious changes in their physical condition, so they should monitor blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, weight, urine volume and other indicators every day. And record all these data completely. After forming a habit, they can intuitively and effectively observe whether the condition has changed through objective indicators.

Especially for patients with heart failure, due to poor blood circulation and other reasons, it is easy to cause difficulty in the production of urine in the body, resulting in a significant decrease in urine volume and urination frequency, and a significant increase in weight. Therefore, it is more necessary to monitor data such as urine volume, urination frequency and weight.

| There are some rules for getting up, you must pay attention

1. When you wake up in the morning, move slowly and gently, and avoid being hasty, tense, or nervous.

2. Avoid staying up late or sleeping for too long, go to bed and get up on time.

3. Wash your face with warm water after getting up, avoid cold water.

4. Replenish water immediately after getting up.

5. After getting up, ensure that the room has sufficient lighting and air circulation.

6. Avoid eating too fast or too quickly when eating breakfast.

| Things to note when using the toilet

1. Avoid holding your breath or straining to urinate or defecate when using the toilet. Excessive straining during urination or defecation can increase blood pressure and increase the burden on the heart, so you should avoid this and stay relaxed.

2. Avoid holding urine or stool.

3. It is better to use a sit-down toilet than a squat toilet. Squatting to use the toilet puts more strain on the heart.

4. The temperature of the toilet is usually lower in winter, and changes in temperature can easily cause changes in blood pressure. Therefore, when going to the toilet in winter, you need to pay attention to the temperature of the toilet environment to avoid excessive temperature differences.

| Pay attention to the following points when taking a bath at home

1. Avoid sauna baths. Sauna baths are usually hotter and have larger temperature differences, so they should be avoided.

2. Pay attention to the water temperature, avoid overheating or overcooling, and keep the water temperature appropriate.

3. When using a tub or bath, avoid having the water level higher than the heart. You can soak the lower limbs and other distal parts of the body in warm water first, and then soak the part below the heart in water after the body has adapted to the water temperature.

4. Pay attention to waterproof and anti-slip to avoid dangerous situations such as falls and bumps.

Warm reminder: Live a regular life, exercise properly, pay attention to nutrition and rest, and improve immunity. The temperature in spring changes frequently, so pay attention to the weather forecast in time and pay attention to adding or removing clothes. Do a good job of self-health monitoring at home. If you have fever, cough, obvious changes in smell and taste, etc., please wear a medical mask, seek medical treatment in time, and actively inform the recent travel history and contact history of relevant personnel. Do not work, meet friends, or take medicine without authorization when you are sick.