Don’t let a heart attack ruin the holiday happiness.

　　Catch up with the holidays, it is rare to have a rest, and always get together with friends and relatives. China’s wine culture has a long history. At the dinner table, there is a lot of money, and you come and go, which not only brings closer feelings, but also enlivens the atmosphere. Recalling the past, talking about the future, drinking a little wine, feeling high, talking more, blushing cheeks, and racing heartbeat are all normal physiological reactions. But some people have poor self-control, and excessive drinking will lead to sudden arrhythmia and palpitation. What’s more, sudden death occurred during drinking, and the happy event turned into a funeral. This sudden arrhythmia often happens after drinking alcohol on holidays, hence the name "holiday heart syndrome". Seeing that the National Day is coming, let’s take it easy.

　　Philosophers say well that nothing can be separated from the three logical thinking processes of "what", "why" and "how to do it" Today, according to this logic, let’s take a look at what "holiday heart syndrome" is all about.

　　Heart events on holidays are 6-8 times as high as usual.

　　"Holiday Heart Syndrome" was first named by an American cardiologist Ettinger in 1978, and then gradually improved, forming such a concept: acute heart injury syndrome with arrhythmia as the main feature, which appeared during holidays. It can be seen that this disease is closely related to drinking, and often appears after drinking and having fun during holidays or winter leisure, not only in patients with original heart disease, but also among people without a history of heart disease.

　　Let’s look at its main clinical manifestations. Atrial fibrillation is the most common, and patients will feel that the heart beats very quickly and irregularly. Others such as atrial flutter, junctional tachycardia, ventricular premature beats, atrial premature beats, atrial escape, paroxysmal atrial tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia can all occur. Mild people may have chest tightness, shortness of breath, atypical chest pain symptoms, palpitations, and severe people may have dizziness or syncope. More serious, heart failure and sudden death may occur.

　　The most terrible thing is that because of its atypical symptoms, "Holiday Heart Syndrome" is easily misdiagnosed as coronary heart disease and viral myocarditis. The high misdiagnosis rate has brought some difficulties to clinical diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, early diagnosis and timely treatment are particularly important.

　　There are many cardiac events in holidays, which can reach 6 ~ 8 times as much as usual. Tracing the cause, this syndrome has nothing to do with a long history of heart disease, and the root of it lies in drinking. Excessive drinking of wine, beer or spirits will delay the conduction time of myocardium due to alcohol and its metabolites, leading to reentry, or stimulate the release of norepinephrine from myocardium, thus changing the refractory period of myocardium. The acute damage of heart caused by alcohol (mechanical function or hemodynamic and electrophysiological changes) has been confirmed by many scholars. These factors will make excessive drinkers prone to rapid arrhythmia, resulting in premature beats, paroxysmal tachycardia, and even atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation and other abnormal heartbeat rhythms.

　　No matter how happy you are, you can only drink and save your life.

　　During holidays, how to protect your heart while releasing happiness and avoid accidents?

　　First of all, don’t be too tired before holidays. Especially the empty nesters, who are immersed in the joy of family reunion and are in a state of excitement and busyness, are prone to high blood pressure, dizziness, chest tightness and poor sleep. Look out! These may be the precursors of "holiday heart syndrome". Different from the elderly, young people take a break before holidays, work overtime continuously and have a bad rest. There are also some young people who work and rest irregularly every day during holidays. They don’t sleep until three or four o’clock in the evening, even they don’t rest all night, and they sleep until noon during the day. This situation is more likely to cause heart damage. Therefore, it is suggested that the old man and mother should not be too tired or too excited before the festival and control their emotions; Young people should arrange their work and leisure reasonably, and don’t stay up too much.

　　Secondly, establish a scientific and reasonable outlook on life. In modern society, the pace of life is fast, and many people usually lack exercise. During holidays, gathering with relatives and friends is easy to overeat and drink too much, which leads to excessive physical load. It is suggested that everyone should persist in exercising, enhance their physical fitness and establish good living habits. Don’t wait until there is something wrong with your body before thinking about exercising.

　　Third, drink in moderation, just a little. During the holidays, relatives and friends get together, and "a thousand cups of wine are few" and "a deep feeling is boring". Excessive drinking has become the norm at the party. But it is precisely excessive drinking that may bring the load to the heart and body to exceed the limit. It is recommended that you drink a little to avoid acute myocardial injury.

　　What should I do if "Holiday Heart Syndrome" suddenly happens?

　　1. Stop drinking and rest to prevent further symptoms from aggravating, causing serious arrhythmia or heart failure.

　　2. Go to the nearest hospital in time and give intravenous infusion to promote the timely discharge of alcohol and reduce the damage to the heart.

　　After hospital treatment, especially 6-12 hours after stopping drinking, arrhythmia signs can disappear, heartbeat rhythm and frequency return to normal, and the general prognosis is good.

　　Source: Journal of Public Health

　　Text: Zhu Hang Feng Jiming, Deputy Chief Physician of Cardiovascular Department, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

　　Editor: Luan Zhaolin Guan Zhongyao

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