How to detect blood vessel blockage in time? Cardiologist: Different parts require different judgment methods!

Myocardial infarction is a blockage of blood vessels in the heart, which may lead to heart failure or sudden death!

Cerebral infarction is a blockage of blood vessels in the brain, which may cause hemiplegia, hemiplegia, or even sudden death!
The two places where we hear the most about blood vessel blockage are the heart and the brain. This is because the heart is the engine and the brain is the command center. Once problems occur in these two places, it is often fatal.

In fact, our body is full of blood vessels, because blood vessels are the channels for nutrient delivery. Only when blood vessels are unobstructed can sufficient blood be delivered to the tissues, organs, and various departments of the body, so that the tissues, organs, and various departments of the body can function normally. Only in this way can we live healthily.

If a blood vessel is blocked, the most direct result is that the tissues and organs in the blocked area will be ischemic. If the ischemic time is long, the tissues and organs will die. If it is a very important organ, such as the heart or brain, it may be life-threatening in a very short time.

So in our daily lives, how can we preliminarily determine whether our blood vessels are blocked?
Is it the facial expression? The toes? The fingers?

For most people, we cannot determine whether our blood vessels are blocked by looking at these parts of the body. Anyone who can determine whether blood vessels are blocked by looking at the face, hands, and feet is either a god or a scammer.

Because the whole body is covered with blood vessels, the symptoms are different when blood vessels in different parts are blocked. Therefore, it is difficult to say that you can directly determine whether a blood vessel is blocked by looking at a certain part.

Today we share several methods to determine whether blood vessels in common areas are blocked, so that everyone can learn, discover them in time, and seek medical treatment in time to avoid delaying the disease.

1. Are the blood vessels in the lower limbs blocked?

We often hear a saying: If the blockage is unobstructed, there will be no pain; if there is pain, the blockage is obstructed!

In fact, this sentence is quite useful for judging whether the blood vessels in the lower limbs are blocked. When the lower limb arteries are blocked, we will experience leg pain after walking or running. We often have to stop and rest for a while before we can continue walking.

Our professional term is: intermittent claudication. In other words, walking with a limp from time to time. The cause of intermittent claudication is the blockage of blood vessels in the lower limbs. When the blood vessels in the lower limbs are blocked, there will be ischemia, which is actually lack of oxygen.

Because the oxygen carried by arterial blood is supplied to the whole body, so that the tissue cells of the whole body can work normally. If the blood vessels are blocked, then the arterial blood cannot be transported to this part, and then this part will be ischemic, that is, lack of oxygen. After lack of oxygen, pain will occur.

Therefore, a relatively simple way to determine whether the lower limb arteries are blocked is to see whether leg pain occurs after walking or running. If leg pain occurs, a color Doppler ultrasound of the lower limb blood vessels is needed to confirm whether the lower limb blood vessels are blocked.

(This method can not only determine whether the lower limb blood vessels are completely blocked, but also determine severe lower limb artery stenosis.)

2. Are the cerebral blood vessels blocked?

Blockage of cerebral blood vessels is actually cerebral infarction, and most people can detect cerebral infarction in time.

Because after cerebral infarction, it will directly affect the body's motor function, language function, swallowing function, etc. Therefore, when the cerebral blood vessels are blocked, most people will experience symptoms such as hemiplegia, aphasia, hemiplegia, coughing when drinking water, asymmetric strength of the limbs, crooked mouth and eyes, etc.

Think about it, when we encounter the above situation, will we still not care? Will we delay treatment? We will definitely seek medical treatment in time. Going to the hospital for a brain CT or brain MRI can confirm whether the cerebral blood vessels are blocked.

But at this time, the cerebral blood vessels are usually completely blocked, brain cells have already died, and there may even be sequelae. So is there a method to detect cerebral vascular stenosis at an early stage?

When the cerebral blood vessels are not completely blocked, it is difficult to judge whether a person's cerebral blood vessels are blocked by symptoms, because most people do not have typical symptoms at this time, and it can only be judged by CT or MRI. But we cannot do brain CT or brain MRI for all people without symptoms.

At this time, we need to move the judgment forward and determine whether the carotid artery is narrowed, because many cerebral infarctions are caused by carotid artery plaques and thrombosis, so we can determine whether the carotid artery is narrowed.

After the carotid artery is blocked, the patient may experience dizziness, headache, memory loss, tinnitus, blurred vision, insomnia, transient aphasia, hemiplegia, hemianopsia and other symptoms.

If you want to find out whether your carotid artery is narrowed earlier, you can only do carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound to determine whether there are plaques and narrowing in the carotid artery. It is generally recommended that people with three highs, or those who are obese, smoke and drink for a long time, have a family history of cardiovascular disease and other high-risk groups, regularly check the carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound to find out whether the carotid artery is blocked in time.

Some cerebral infarctions are caused by atrial fibrillation. The blood clots in atrial fibrillation may break off and run to the cerebral blood vessels, blocking them. Therefore, atrial fibrillation can be roughly regarded as a precursor to cerebral blood vessel blockage. Therefore, people with atrial fibrillation need regular treatment to prevent cerebral infarction.

3. Are the pulmonary blood vessels blocked?

Blockage of blood vessels in the lungs, called pulmonary embolism, is also a fatal disease that may lead to sudden death.
Pulmonary embolism is generally an acute disease that occurs suddenly. Patients may experience symptoms such as sudden chest tightness and shortness of breath, sudden difficulty breathing, sudden drop in blood pressure, and sudden rapid heart rate.

When pulmonary embolism is suspected, a definitive diagnosis is required through electrocardiogram, D2 scan, lung enhanced CT and other examinations.

Pulmonary embolism is usually difficult to detect because there are no signs in most cases. This is because the blood clots come from other parts of the body, not from the narrowing of the blood vessels in the lungs. Therefore, it is almost impossible to detect it. Only when it occurs suddenly can you seek medical treatment and emergency treatment in time.

4. Are the heart vessels blocked?

What everyone is most concerned about is whether the heart vessels are blocked and how to judge it.

Complete blockage of the heart vessels is called myocardial infarction; severe stenosis of the heart vessels can cause angina pectoris; moderate stenosis of the heart vessels is called coronary heart disease; and less than 50% stenosis of the heart vessels is called coronary atherosclerosis.

We can use coronary CTA or coronary angiography to see whether the heart blood vessels are narrowed and how much they are narrowed, so as to determine whether the heart blood vessels are blocked.

But we can't do a coronary CTA or coronary angiography on a regular basis. How do we judge whether a blood vessel is blocked in our daily life?

We can use the symptoms to preliminarily determine whether there is severe cardiovascular stenosis or whether myocardial infarction has occurred. Simply put, angina pectoris is myocardial ischemia caused by cardiovascular stenosis, which usually lasts for a few minutes and then is relieved. If a person's angina pectoris does not last for 20 minutes, then it is suspected that a myocardial infarction has occurred.

How to determine whether you have angina pectoris (severe stenosis of cardiovascular system)?

Exercise or activity is a very effective method.

When we exercise, move, work, get tired, etc., our heart will speed up, that is, beat faster, so the blood and oxygen required by the heart will increase.

However, when the cardiovascular system is severely narrowed, the blood supply to the cardiovascular system cannot meet the body's demand for large amounts of oxygen during exercise, activity, labor, fatigue, etc. Then the heart will suffer from ischemia and hypoxia, and angina pectoris will occur after ischemia or hypoxia.

Therefore, if angina pectoris occurs during exercise, activities, labor, fatigue, etc., it is a way to determine whether there is severe cardiovascular stenosis. If angina pectoris occurs during exercise, activities, labor, fatigue, etc., you must seek medical attention in time. Electrocardiogram, coronary CT or coronary angiography can determine whether there is cardiovascular stenosis and the degree of stenosis.

If angina pectoris persists for more than 20 minutes, it means that the cardiovascular system is completely blocked, which is myocardial infarction.

Once again, the manifestations of angina pectoris are diverse:

Angina pectoris is not the pain in the heart area as everyone understands it. Angina pectoris can have many symptoms, such as pain in the heart area and chest pain; it may also manifest as back pain, shoulder pain, upper arm pain, headache, toothache, or even no pain, but manifest as chest tightness and shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, profuse sweating, throat discomfort, etc.

The main judgment is still to demonstrate the above discomfort during exercise, activities, labor, fatigue, etc., rather than judging based on whether there is pain in the heart area.

In short, the methods of judging whether the blood vessels in different parts are blocked are different. Let us take a preliminary look at the methods of judging whether the blood vessels in several common and important parts are blocked, so that you can use them as needed!