How the heart stays healthy
The heart is a very busy organ. It has struck around three billion times before someone's 80th birthday - if all goes well. Everyone can do something for that. The doctor and book author Felix Schröder explains how this works.
It beats and beats, and hardly anyone gives much thought to it. The heart is central to our health. Diseases of the cardiovascular system are the number one cause of death in Germany. Felix Schröder is dedicated to the heart, as a doctor he specializes in the fist-sized organ. In his book "What the Heart Desires", he explains why the ancient Greeks thought that the soul sits in the chest - and how you can keep the heart busy with simple means. Here are the most important questions and answers.
Why do we often locate emotions in the heart area?
Felix Schröder: When I'm very happy, my heart leaps for joy. If something depresses me, I notice a feeling of tightness up to pain in the chest. That is why in ancient times the seat of the soul was assumed to be in the chest. In the meantime, scientific methods have also been used to establish clear connections between mental and heart diseases. Those with a heart condition are more prone to depression. The organ also stands for love and feelings in a metaphorical sense. If it no longer works properly, the basic mood will not be forgotten. The reverse also applies: Those who suffer from depression are more likely to get heart disease.
What are the differences between women's and men's hearts?
Schröder: With sex hormones, women have a kind of Teflon coating on their arteries. Especially before the menopause, high estrogen levels guarantee protection against hardening of the arteries. This protection is lacking in men, whose arteries on average get clogged earlier in life. The symptoms can also be very different for the same diseases, so a heart attack usually causes chest problems in men, while women often experience atypical symptoms such as pain in the upper abdomen or nausea and vomiting - without the classic chest pain, as described in the textbook.
What other ailments indicate that the heart is not working properly?
Schröder: The most common complaints are a feeling of pressure or pain in the chest when exerted, shortness of breath or water retention in the tissue - mostly on the ankles and lower legs, following gravity. But even very vague complaints such as a drop in performance during exercise or tiredness can indicate heart disease. There are even heart attacks that go through without any discomfort. They are called silent heart attacks.
Are some people more likely than others to have heart disease?
Schröder: There are some factors that we cannot influence. If grandma and grandpa have already died of heart disease and the father has suffered a heart attack, the probability of developing a heart disease increases due to genetic factors. In addition, men are more at risk than women. The factors that we can influence are, for example, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, too much alcohol, diabetes, lack of exercise or an increase in blood lipids.
Can you also "eat healthily" your heart?
Schröder: Mediterranean cuisine is considered to be particularly heart-healthy. It is rich in vegetables that contain so-called phytochemicals. They have been shown to lower blood pressure and can even prevent cancer. From my point of view, when it comes to nutrition, it is important to pay attention to the correct ratio: The findings repeatedly refer to the good old food pyramid, according to which vegetables and fruits should make up the lion's share of our diet. But she also says that basically nothing is forbidden. The dose makes the poison.
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Nov 28, 2020sssss
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