A 54-year-old patient with acute myocardial infarction was rescued on Monday night. The main reason for his myocardial infarction was due to the casual discontinuation of medication.

Mr. Zhang, 54 years old, was diagnosed with coronary heart disease 2 years ago. Later, the doctor recommended a healthy life, regular medication, and regular review. At first, Mr. Zhang could follow the doctor's instructions, but after a period of treatment, Mr. Zhang felt that he felt good and no longer felt any discomfort. He feels that taking medicine or not has no effect. The most important thing is that he heard from his colleagues that if you can't take statins, don't take them because they are lipid-lowering drugs. Once your blood lipids are normal, you can stop taking them. Besides, this medicine has too many side effects, it can damage your liver and muscles, so don’t look for trouble. People say that people with coronary heart disease should take aspirin, but no one says that they should also take statins.

So Mr. Zhang just happened to go down the slope. He didn’t want to take so many medicines. Some people said that the medicine had serious side effects, so he simply stopped taking the statin medicine.

So why is it said that the main reason for Mr. Zhang’s myocardial infarction this time was that he casually stopped taking statin drugs?

1. Three mistakes in taking statins:

1. Thinking that statins are just lipid-lowering drugs

Statins are not a drug, but a large class of drugs , currently commonly used include simvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin, atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, pitavastatin and so on.

Statins can indeed lower blood lipids, mainly lowering cholesterol, especially lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, a bad blood fat; they can also slightly lower triglycerides and increase high-density lipoprotein, a good blood fat. . After a new house is renovated, the ceramic tiles are particularly smooth and are not prone to accumulation of garbage; however, if they are in disrepair for a long time and cracks occur, it is easy for more garbage to accumulate in the cracks. If the inner wall of our blood vessels is damaged due to high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and alcoholism, etc., it will not be as smooth as it was when we were young, and it will be easy to accumulate lipid substances on the rough inner wall of the blood vessels. If this accumulation becomes more and more, it will The formation of vascular plaques. The aggravation of vascular plaques will cause blood vessel stenosis and ischemia. When the plaques rupture, thrombus will form, causing myocardial infarction and cerebral infarction. This lipid substance is mainly low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Therefore, after statins lower blood lipids, they can reduce so-called vascular garbage, thereby reducing the accumulation of lipid substances, naturally controlling atherosclerosis, and to a certain extent, preventing and controlling cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

But statin drugs can not only reduce bad blood lipids, but also anti-inflammatory reactions. What do they mean? One of the main reasons why our blood vessels are not smooth is the inflammatory response. Statins can be anti-inflammatory, that is, they can inhibit this inflammatory response, thereby protecting blood vessels to a certain extent, preventing the aggravation of atherosclerosis, and ultimately preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Statins can also stabilize plaques. When too much cholesterol accumulates on the rough inner wall of blood vessels, plaques will form. Plaques are like a pustule growing on the inner wall of blood vessels. Once they rupture, they will form. Thrombosis, myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction. Statins can stabilize plaques and prevent plaque rupture, thereby preventing thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and cerebral infarction.

After Mr. Zhang stopped taking the drug, not only did his blood lipids rise, but his inflammatory response increased, and the plaque became unstable, eventually leading to thrombosis and myocardial infarction.

2. The drug can be stopped when blood lipids are normal

Statins can lower cholesterol, but hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia have a unique characteristic, that is, it is difficult or Almost most of them cannot be cured and require long-term medication control. After cholesterol increases, most people's cholesterol can return to normal after statin treatment. But you cannot stop taking the medicine easily at this time. If you only have hypercholesterolemia and do not have cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, you can stop taking the medicine if your cholesterol continues to be normal after stopping the medicine. However, after most people stop taking the medicine, their cholesterol will rise again. This part It is not recommended to stop taking medication casually.

There are also people who have cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. For example, Mr. Zhang has coronary heart disease. Even if his cholesterol is normal, he cannot stop statins casually, because as mentioned above, statins can not only reduce Blood lipids can also fight inflammation, stabilize plaques, and prevent blood clots.

Of course, we must also remind you that for people with clear cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, the standard for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is not lower than 3.4 on the test sheet, but is recommended to be lowered to below 1.8.

3. If you don’t feel uncomfortable, you don’t need to take medicine.

One of the reasons why many people stop taking medicine is that if they don’t feel uncomfortable, why do they have to take medicine every day, and may have to take it for a lifetime? Woolen cloth? So I stopped taking the medicine. In fact, for a long period of time, the condition of the three high blood pressure and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is relatively stable and there is no discomfort.

But just because there is no discomfort does not mean there is no harm.

The harm of three highs and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is long-term and subtle. The damage is not visible in the short term. However, for people with this kind of coronary heart disease, if they do not take statins for a long time, their cholesterol will gradually increase, blood vessel waste will increase, and inflammatory reactions will increase. Atherosclerosis will worsen, plaques will become unstable, and eventually plaques will aggravate, plaque rupture, thrombosis, and myocardial infarction.

Before the bomb exploded, the sea was calm. Can you say that the bomb was not dangerous? The moment it exploded, it was completely destroyed!

2. How to face or avoid the side effects of statin drugs:

1. Eat when you should, and don’t eat when you shouldn’t

Whether you want to take statins or not, it must be The doctor has the final say, and you cannot just listen to the advice of the seventh aunt, the eighth aunt, or Uncle Li and Aunt Wang next door. Especially such an important prescription drug, and it is the most basic drug for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

For those with clear cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, cardiac stent, cardiac bypass, cerebral infarction, severe carotid artery plaque, etc., long-term use of statins is required if there are no contraindications.

Whether it is necessary for other situations should be decided after evaluation by a professional doctor!

2. Reduce the risk of increasing side effects

Almost all drugs have more or less adverse reactions or side effects. Our ancestors also said that medicines are divided into three parts: poisons. . But first of all, we must be clear that there is no solution to taking medicine. If the disease can be controlled and treated through non-drug methods, of course there is no need to take medicine. However, many diseases cannot be controlled or treated simply through non-drug methods, so medicine must be taken. There is indeed a risk of adverse reactions or side effects when taking medicine, but since they are adverse drug reactions or side effects, they will only happen to a very small number of people. There is no need to expand or fear side effects, let alone worry about side effects. If you dare not eat it, many diseases will be uncontrollable.

Several of the most common side effects of statin drugs are that they may cause liver function damage and increase transaminases; they may cause muscle damage, and the most serious myolysis; and they may cause blood sugar to rise.

During the period of taking statins, do not increase the dosage casually, because doubling the statin will significantly increase the side effects of the drug; at the same time, it is not recommended to drink alcohol, which will also increase the side effects of statins; furthermore, taking simvastatin and lovastatin People who take atorvastatin are not recommended to eat fruits such as grapefruit. Simply put, these statins and grapefruit will be metabolized along the same path, which will make the statin stay in the body longer, thus increasing the potential side effects of the statin. Therefore, Not recommended to eat. Of course, the instructions for atorvastatin clearly state that drinking 1.2L of grapefruit juice a day will significantly increase the side effects of the drug, so even if you eat it occasionally, it may not be that dangerous, but it is best to avoid it as much as possible.

3. Do regular re-examinations

Side effects will only occur in a few people. We cannot dare to take statins just because we are worried about side effects. As long as you do a good job of monitoring, for example, before taking medicine, you need to know your transaminase, creatine kinase, and blood sugar. You need to regularly review your liver function transaminases, creatine kinase, and blood sugar after taking medicine for 1 month, 3 months, half a year, and every year thereafter. It is recommended to stop the drug when the transaminase is higher than 3 times, and when the creatine kinase is higher than 10 times, it is recommended to stop the drug. When blood sugar rises, it is generally not recommended to stop the drug immediately, because the benefits that statins can bring to patients are higher than those of new-onset diabetes. The disadvantages are, so blood sugar control treatment is recommended.

Therefore, the reason for regular check-ups for people with high blood pressure and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases is to see whether the condition is stable and to see whether the drugs have side effects. Early detection and early treatment can surely cure the disease. Risks are minimized.

In short, statins have side effects of liver damage and muscle damage, but statins are not liver damage drugs or muscles damage drugs; instead, they can reduce bad blood lipids, increase good blood lipids, and can fight inflammation and protect blood vessels. , one of the most basic drugs for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases that stabilizes plaques, prevents plaque rupture, and prevents thrombosis.

We should pay attention to the side effects of drugs, but there is no need to expand or fear the side effects of drugs. We should do the above three points to let the drugs serve us better!

#婷 Zero plan#