It Takes Heart: Fight Stress and Other Triggers in Beijing for Your Heart Health

This post is sponsored by Sanfine International Hospital, offering state-of-the-art care and world-class service in the heart of Sanlitun.
 

Dr. Mingzhe Chen knows quite literally what it means to “have heart.” The 80-year-old Hong Kong-born cardiologist has published over 200 articles in medical journals around the world and one of a select few experts who regularly lectures at both Peking University and Tsinghua. 

But long before he achieved these feats in the field of cardiology, Dr. Chen was inspired to begin his medical career by a far more personal matter of the heart: In 1941, when he was just seven years old, his home near the Hong Kong airport was destroyed by Japanese bombers. “I felt lucky to have survived,” he recalls, adding how this traumatic incident led him to make a resolution to serve his country and to “help others survive and live well.’”
 

Now, after decades of excelling as a cardiologist practicing both in China and the United States, Dr. Chen has returned to his homeland to continue his calling as the new Head of the Cardiovascular Center at the new Sanfine International Hospital in Sanlitun. “I’m amazed to see how heart health has improved in Asia,” he explains. “I’m excited to see what new cardiovascular hurdles there are to be contended with.” 

With World Heart Day just around the corner on September 29, we sat down with Dr. Chen to understand more about the cardiovascular issues affecting Beijingers and what steps can be taken to improve heart health on a daily basis.
 

Beat Heart Disease by Keeping One Simple Thing in Mind

“The number one way to prevent heart disease is to stop smoking,” Dr. Chen says point blank. While he concedes that this easier said and done for most smokers in China, where an estimated 30 percent of the adult population regularly lights up, Dr. Chen has found a pretty effective way to persuade his patients to kick the habit. “I don’t ask patients to use a patch or anything like that,” he explains. “Instead, I have patients bring their families in to the appointment with them. Then, as I explain the risks of smoking – and how your chances of death go up nine-fold, or how having a heart disease is not only bad for you but also the family members that have to take care of you – their relatives are there to pressure them to stop. I’ve had 99 percent of my patients quite smoking, thanks to this method.” So when it comes to kicking the nicotine out of your life, think of your family and loved ones first.
 

Not Always as Obvious as Smoking – Other Triggers that Affect Your Heart 

High blood pressure – a.k.a. hypertension – has become a huge problem for Beijing residents who eat salty food, according to Dr. Chen. “Too much salt is a big problem for many people, especially in the north of China where it is heavily used in the cuisine,” he explains. “I use an illustrated book to show my patients what, exactly, is going on with their bodies in terms of hypertension, and I explain what steps they can take for prevention, as well as what medicines they should take and how they work.” 

Dr. Chen adds that high blood pressure is not only rooted in unhealthy diets, but also from dirty air. “A lot of research has been done in the U.S. over the years linking pollution to hypertension – the toxins and carcinogens in the air can drive up blood pressure levels,” he says. “Unfortunately in China we don’t have enough data on this – so scientists and academics need to do more work to learn more about this problem in a polluted city like Beijing, and educate people about what can be done to help.” 

The good news is that the government has taken resolute steps to reduce air pollution by shutting down factories and controlling traffic – which has already made a discernible difference so far this year – but it will take many more years before Beijing reaches the clean air standards that are common in the West. Thus, for now, the best ways to reduce your exposure is to keep a close eye on AQI counts, and wear masks outside and use air purifiers indoors on polluted days. 
 

Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk (Literally) 

While Dr. Chen says he is pleased to see how the quality of life in modern-day China has rapidly improved over the war-ravaged years of his childhood, he also points out one key downside to this increasing prosperity: “Obesity is a huge problem in developed countries, and now this is the case in China as well,” he says. “We are living longer and have more money spend on food, but all-too often this means junk food and soft drinks.”

As a result many of Dr. Chen’s patients are struggling with their weight, but the cardiologist says he knows one simple, yet effective way to motivate them to slim down. “I tell them that I am 80 years old, and I still go for walk four or five times a week. I still work, but I try to take care of myself – and if I can at my age, so can you. Then, we begin discussing a plan for regular exercise and a controlled diet.”
 

You Might be Neglecting the Basics 

“I had a 90-year-old patient who was suffering from chest pains. I asked him to walk from one corner of the room to the other, but he couldn’t because the pain was too much,” says Dr. Chen. “It was a real problem for this elderly gentleman because he longed to go overseas for the first time in his life to visit his daughter in Canada – but he simply wasn’t healthy enough to go.”

Here, again, Dr. Chen served not only as the patient’s doctor, but also educator, to help the patient improve his condition. “He was not very good about taking his medication, but he was very motivated to see his daughter. So after showing him a few illustrated guides and explaining how the medication helped his body, he finally began to follow the advice and take his medication – within sixth months, he was healthy enough to fly.” 

Dr. Chen explains that it is all-too common for patient to neglect taking their medication. “These days there are many people with too much stress and pressure from things like work, traffic and family life – it’s bad for their hearts and they make it worse by not taking the right medication when they need it. Some people feel that it’s inconvenient and they can’t be bothered to be organized and disciplined about it.” 

Helping patients understand their conditions and treatments makes Dr. Chen all-the-more passionate about being a teacher, not only for his medical students at Peking University and Tsinghua, but also at the hospital every day. “When patients understand what’s going on with their bodies, and what the method is to treat them, then they’ll know why they need to take better care of themselves. And helping them feel better makes me very happy.”
 

If you have any health questions regarding your heart health or other health concerns, you can sign up and ask online on Sanfine’s free English subscription account, where Dr. Chen and other highly experienced doctors at Sanfine International hospital answer readers’ health questions weekly. Come and check out what Sanfine has to offer. For more information on the hospital, its services and doctors, click here.

Photos: Uni You, Ken Liu, ym32 (Flickr), DucDigital, The Telegraph