Heart - symbol of love and the most important pump

The heart - a four-cavity muscle, 12 x 9 x 6 cm in diameter and 255 g (women) and 310 g (men) in weight. For poets the symbol of love and source of inspiration, for physicists, a suction and force pump, able to pump 4 litres of blood/ minute, that is 240 l/h (1), which never rests; 5 seconds after the heart stops, a person faints.

To be able to do all these work, the heart must be properly nourished, oxygenated and mustn't be overburdened with work, and what do we do?

  • we eat lots of fatty food, so the consequences are high level of cholesterol and triglycerides,
  • we smoke, so our blood lacks oxygen needed by the heart to breathe,
  • we spend most of the time sitting - at work, in a car, at home (in front of a tv set) and weight more and more,
  • we are constantly stressed and always in a hurry - so our blood pressure rises.

 Where does it lead? Poland has, one of the highest in Europe, coronary disease and its tragic consequence, a hart attack, incidence index.

There are 100 thousand heart attack a year in Poland. Approx. 45% of the patients die within 1 year.

What are the reasons? The main reason is a 'secretive murderer' - atheromatosis. Atheromatosis consists in the accumulation and deposit of cholesterol and other substances, i.e. calcium on the innermost layer of the wall of an artery, resulting in endothelium damage, , blood clots forming, and in the end leading to a close up of the artery and necrosis, meaning the death of the cells fed by this very vessel. The same applies to all arteries, especially coronary arteries, brain and lower extremities.

The progress of atheromatosis is slow and depends on certain genetic predispositions but the main risk factor is the improper life style.

Starting from the early childhood, each of us, should learn, in a kindergarten, at school or home, about these elements of life which improve our health and prevent diseases.

These are:

  • proper diet,
  • not smoking,
  • avoiding obesity,
  • sufficient physical activity.

 And what we, forty-year olds remember from school? Ham sandwich with butter for lunch, smoking cigarettes in a toilet and 1 (1) hour of physical education a week. According to the data published by the Institute of Cardiology, due to bad habits, 70& of the population of our country is exposed to a coronary disease risk!

Is there anything we can do to change it? YES!

Let's think for a while about our everyday life:

  • let's have a look at what we eat - doesn't it contain too much fat, calories and cholesterol; do we eat fruits and vegetables; doesn't a scales needle go too far to the right (BMI).
  • let's check, if we are often involved in stressful situations, which trigger the need for a cigarette,
  • let's count how many minutes or hours a day, we spend on relaxation: walk, jogging, bicycle ride or sport.

 If you feel that there is something wrong with your health, even if the symptoms are not apparent, talk to your doctor. He will probably recommend an overall check of your health and possible risk, even if just to make sure that everything is OK.

Remember that preventing diseases is simpler, more effective and cheaper that treating them, especially in respect to irreparable damages such as a heart attack.

dr Krzysztof Kraszewski