Herzwochen How do heart diseases develop?

Experts provide information on numerous events during the Herzwochen
Cardiovascular diseases are often associated with avoidable burdens such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, obesity or tobacco use. Millions of people in Germany are affected, with the illnesses often reaching life-threatening proportions, such as in the form of a heart attack. As part of the current Herzwochen, which runs throughout November, experts throughout Germany provide information on the risks of cardiovascular diseases and possible preventive measures.

An estimated six million people in Germany suffer from coronary heart disease (CHD) alone, according to the announcement of the German Heart Foundation on the occasion of the current Herzwochen. At numerous free events, experts will provide information about "risk prevention, diagnostic and treatment options (stent treatment, bypass surgery, medications) of CHD and heart attack during the heart weeks", reports the German Heart Foundation. Also to other heart problems questions are answered.

During the Herzwochen, experts throughout Germany provide information on heart disease and prevention options. (Image: Fiedels / fotolia.com)

Heart attack risk test
The Herzstiftung provides all event dates of the current Herzwochen and the guidebook information for those interested on their website. Furthermore, the foundation provides detailed information about the events taking place in its newsletter. In addition, the Herzstiftung offers a free heart attack risk test online, in which your own heart attack risk can be determined. This risk test can also be ordered as a leaflet free of charge from the Deutsche Herzstiftung on tel. 069 955128-400 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Facts about heart disease
On the occasion of the Herzwochen 2015, the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) has in turn summarized numerous interesting facts about the topic of heart in a recent press release. Accordingly, for example:

• Cardiovascular diseases the most common cause of death in Germany (around 350,000 deaths from myocardial infarction, heart failure, etc.) every year,
• Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt the federal states with the most deaths, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Saarland the federal states with the fewest,
• The chances of survival in acute myocardial infarction have increased by 40 percent in the last 20 years,
• Smoking, overweight, lack of exercise and stress are the main risk factors,
  Sports muffle more often affected by cardiovascular complaints (around 30 percent) than recreational athletes (around 18 percent),
• The symptoms in women and men often vary greatly. (According to the TK, women are more likely to experience dread, nausea and vomiting, pain in the left arm, back and left scapula, and in the area of ​​the jaw and neck)..

Further facts of the TK on the topic heart:

• In acute myocardial infarction women have a better chance of survival. The death rate of men is a good fifth higher. Women, however, die more frequently from all other heart diseases such as heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias and valve diseases.
• Healthy diet prevents heart disease. Especially heart-healthy foods are sea fish such as mackerel, salmon and herring, as well as legumes, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
• The right fats keep the heart functioning and the vessels elastic. Healthy are high quality vegetable oils such as olive, rape, thistle, corn germ or sunflower oil. They contain unsaturated fatty acids, which positively influence the cholesterol level, protect the heart and blood vessels. Animal fats from meat and dairy products should only be taken in reduced quantities.
• Salt goes to the heart: Salt is vital, but with increased intake, the blood volume of the body cells increases, so that the heart has to do extra work. Better: reduce salt and instead use spices, garlic and herbs.
• Drinking heart and soul: With 1.5 to 2 liters of non-alcoholic liquid a day, the kidneys remain functional, which are largely responsible for the blood pressure.
• The TK nutritional study shows that more than one in four low earners, but only 14 percent of high earners have cardiovascular discomfort.
• A big problem: According to the TK nutritional study more than one in three seriously overweight people complains about cardiovascular problems. In the normal weight "only" one in five.
• Exercise is healthy - why? An untrained heart works less efficiently and has to work harder. It takes 20 more strokes per minute to pump the same amount of blood, so it gets more stressed and ages faster.
• Sport as (cardiac) therapy - a model project of TK shows: after six months of training, the average 65-year-old patients had reduced weight and waist circumference, cholesterol and blood glucose levels improved.
• Pills for the Pump 1/3: According to the TK Health Report, statistically, every workforce received cardiovascular medications in 2014 for almost three months (88 daily doses). That's almost 40 percent more than in 2005.
• Pills for the pump 2/3: According to the TK health report, men get 86 percent more heart medicines than women.
• Pills for the pump 3/3: 45 percent of all medications that men are prescribed are cardiovascular products. For women, only a quarter of the pills are spent on the pump.
• Seven out of ten men in Germany admit that they could do more preventatively for their health. Only just under 30 percent find they are already doing enough. For women, 65 percent think they could do more.
• A Forsa survey commissioned by TK showed that four percent of students already have cardiovascular complaints or high blood pressure. Students of economics and law, as well as budding physicians and psychologists, each with seven percent, are affected above average.
• Selbstver stent-lich? The national guideline for the treatment of coronary heart disease sets clear guidelines: Patients with more than two diseased heart vessels or a significant main stenosis should receive a bypass operation. However, TK data shows that four out of ten patients receive only so-called stents despite severe heart problems.
• Nearly 170,000 times a year, heart surgery is performed in this country. Men bring heart problems to the OR almost twice as often as women.
  Germany is at a standstill: According to the TK movement study, the immobile people in the republic are now in the majority. 52 percent said they rarely or never move.
• About every tenth of the euro spent on medicines is accounted for by cardiovascular drugs.
• Heart in stress: Stress is healthy - it ensures that the body can bring maximum performance. But only if he can regenerate in between. When the heart is permanently under stress and constantly has to beat faster, it is overstressed and aging faster.
• Good for the heart: The best anti-stress program are friends and family. According to TK-CampusKompass, 93 percent of students say they relax best when meeting with loved ones.
• According to the Society for Pediatric Cardiology, every 100th child in Germany is born with a congenital heart defect. That's about 6,500 babies a year.
• Organ Donation: Every two years, the health insurance companies send organ donation cards to their insured persons, where they can document their decision for or against an organ donation. You can also release individual organs or exclude them from the donation. Some donors take their heart from the donation because they suspect their soul there. In 2014, there were 304 heart transplants - and at the same time, 512 patients waiting for a donor heart were added to the waiting list.
• Broken Hearts: Eight of ten hearts break for the first time before they turn 17. According to a study by the University of Bielefeld, 82 percent of the 16-year-olds already had heartache.
• Heartache: The Briton Garth Sundem developed a formula for how long a broken heart must heal: √M x (L x Nw x Kj +25) / (E + S +25). From the relationship duration (M in months), the strength of love (L on a scale of 1-10), the spent nights together per week (Nw), the communication after the separation (Kj), the decision to the relationship end (E; 10 for "self-terminated", 1 for "abandoned") and self-esteem (S on a scale of 1 to 10) calculate the number of lovesick months.

In total, the Herzwochen offers numerous opportunities to inform oneself extensively about the topic of heart health and, if necessary, to discuss individual issues directly in conversation with the local experts. (Fp)