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Otorhinolaryngologist, surgeon

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Diseases of the heart and cold: who is whom?

Alexey Portnov, medical expert
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021

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Diseases of the heart and colds are bad comrades. With a cold, the virus penetrates the body and loads the cardiovascular system. If a person is sick with a heart, it suffers even more. Therefore, when treating a cold, you should not forget about your usual medications, which you used before you caught a cold. What are the features of heart disease with a cold?

Is the common cold dangerous?

Yes, quite dangerous. But not in itself, but its effects and influence on the body. Colds often give such complications as pneumonia, which deprives the blood of oxygen coming to the heart. From this, a person may have difficulty breathing and feeling well. On a patient with his heart, with colds, he can develop weakness, he may get sick, at night there may be shortness of breath.

These loads are very dangerous for the heart. It pumps blood with great effort, and a person can suffocate and feel bad even with slow walking, and if the patient climbs the stairs, the load increases even more. This is especially dangerous for people suffering from heart failure.

What cold medicines should I avoid in case of heart disease?

First of all, it is necessary to avoid funds for the treatment of colds, which contain decongestants. According to the American Association of Cardiologists, for colds, decongestants can not be used, especially for people with high blood pressure. Drugs with this substance in the composition increase blood pressure even more. It threatens with a stroke. An alternative to these drugs is the well-known medication Coldrex. And yet, when deciding on the medications taken, be sure to consult a doctor who will recommend the best treatment option for you.

How do cold remedies interact with other drugs?

If the remedies for colds and for treating the heart are picked up incorrectly (and this can often happen in self-medication), they can counteract each other. Cold remedies can neutralize drugs to treat the heart, and they will not help at the most crucial moment. Still need to carefully read the labels of drugs, do not increase or lower whether they pressure people in whom it is spasmodic or not normal.

Be sure to consult a doctor before you start taking medications against colds and to support the work of the heart. And still need to notify the doctor about what drugs you take (even the most innocuous) and what they took before. This applies to prescription and non-prescription drugs.

Preventive measures against colds in cardiovascular diseases

Even if you are very suffering from heart disease, this is no reason to stop walking in the fresh air and the simplest physical exercises. Even after a heart attack, patients are advised to swim - it relieves bones and vessels, and also hardens.

Hardening is an important remedy against colds, but it is also necessary to carry out the simplest preventive measures. First of all, this is a thorough and regular washing of hands. Washing hands with soap removes harmful bacteria and viruses from the hands that are the source of infection. And if you do not suffer from colds, then the heart will not receive additional stress.

Immunization as a means of protecting the heart

Paradoxically: having vaccinated against the flu, you are protecting your own heart. This is because the vaccine protects against a variety of viruses that are capable of provoking influenza and colds (the cause of the common cold is almost always viruses).

Therefore, consult your doctor about the possibility of annual immunization. It should be carried out until October, and the vaccine begins two weeks after the person has been injected. But even if you did not get vaccinated on time, it's not too late to do it at another time, unless you are suffering from an acute respiratory illness at this time, do not breastfeed and you do not have fever.

Heart diseases and colds do not get you into trouble if you care about your health while playing sports, including enough vitamins in your diet and avoiding bad habits.