Be careful of cold viruses invading your heart. A cold may not last for a month or it may be myocarditis

A cold may seem like an ordinary minor illness, but it is a "big deal" for patients with myocarditis because the cold virus directly invades the heart and causes viral myocarditis. If not handled properly, it will develop into chronic protracted myocarditis, which becomes one of the reasons for the patient's sudden death. In fact, the prevention method is very simple, just get a good rest after catching a cold. Viral myocarditis is also a type of myocarditis, which is completely caused by a cold. There is no distinction between mild and severe colds. As long as you have a cold, you may develop this disease. What matters is the type of virus that causes the cold. If you cannot determine what virus you have been infected with, then you must remember that if you experience fatigue, easy tiredness, dizziness, chest tightness, or even shortness of breath and chest pain in the later stages of a cold or within one month after a cold, you must go to the hospital's cardiology department for examination.

Beware of dizziness and fatigue

A person may catch a cold countless times in his or her lifetime, but the chance of developing viral myocarditis from a cold is less than 1%. Children around ten years old are a high-risk group for this disease. No matter what age group, if they catch a cold, there is a possibility of developing myocarditis. However, because children around ten years old are all in school, have heavy homework, weak resistance, and like to run around, they are easily infected by the cold virus.

If you don't take a rest after catching a cold, the virus is likely to invade your heart, which usually causes the following symptoms:

Mild symptoms: Fatigue, dizziness, and chest tightness begin to appear 1-3 weeks after a cold, and the patient always feels very tired.

Severe symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath, arrhythmia, heart failure, premature beats.

In clinical practice, patients often develop symptoms of myocarditis 1-3 weeks after a cold, and a small number of patients develop myocardial damage as soon as they catch a cold. Some patients with viral myocarditis have very mild symptoms and will not experience any discomfort. If they pay attention to rest, the disease will heal itself. In addition, some patients were not found to have suffered from myocarditis until physical examination or even autopsy many years later. Viral myocarditis is a curable disease. Patients can return to normal without relapse and without any sequelae. The key is to recognize the above symptoms and take early treatment measures.

The key to treatment is absolute rest

Patients need to get enough rest and significantly reduce physical activity, which is the main treatment for viral myocarditis. Patients with mild myocarditis do not need to take any medicine at all. They just need to rest in bed. They can get out of bed when the symptoms disappear completely, but they still need to rest for 3-4 weeks, during which time they can only do light daily physical activities. If you are a patient with severe heart failure who has symptoms such as chest tightness, heart failure, and cardiac enlargement, you should use symptomatic medication. After the symptoms disappear, you should rest for about a year. During this period, you can only engage in light physical activities to avoid increasing the burden on the heart. In addition, although there is no need to restrict mental work such as reading and watching TV, patients should not overdo it to avoid mental fatigue.

During the recuperation period, students must take a leave of absence from school, and office workers are advised to take a long sick leave. Because children have poor self-control and cannot help but fight with their classmates and participate in sports activities with other children, it is recommended that they stay at home from school; adult patients can only engage in light daily activities during the recovery period. If they insist on going to work, they must ensure a low work intensity and basically do not need to walk. They should walk slowly to and from get off work until the doctor determines that the myocarditis has been cured. Life can go back to normal without any taboos.

Doctors are very strict in judging viral myocarditis. If a patient has symptoms of viral myocarditis and has had a cold 1-3 weeks ago, the patient will be highly suspected and will be required to receive treatment. Many friends would think, why must we be so rigorous? Because myocarditis is easy to treat, the prognosis is quite good, there are no sequelae at all, and it will not recur as long as it is truly cured. However, if treatment is missed, the consequences are extremely serious. Patients must recognize the manifestations of the disease. If not treated actively, viral myocarditis may develop into chronic persistent myocarditis, and in severe cases develop into cardiomyopathy. Recurrent heart failure and arrhythmias seriously affect heart function and may even lead to shock and sudden death in daily life.

Daily prevention is simple

As mentioned above, rest is the main method for treating viral myocarditis and it is also an important method for preventing the disease. Experts remind patients to actively seek treatment for colds, drink plenty of water and get more rest. Take some cold medicine when necessary. If you don’t get a good rest after catching a cold and continue to do strenuous work, the possibility of developing viral myocarditis will increase a lot. In addition, even healthy friends should actively prevent colds. Exercise regularly to strengthen your physical fitness, avoid excessive fatigue, and ensure a balanced and nutritious diet. For those who are weak and prone to catching colds, they can get the flu vaccine in the spring. The vaccine's protection period is one year.

A cold that lasts for a month may lead to myocarditis

"Viral myocarditis" is a type of myocarditis that is completely caused by a cold. Moreover, it is not just a "very severe" cold that causes the disease. Experts remind that viral myocarditis has nothing to do with the severity of the cold, but depends on the type of virus that causes the cold. Since you cannot determine what virus you have been infected with, you might as well remember this: if you experience fatigue, easy tiredness, dizziness, chest tightness, or even shortness of breath and chest pain in the later stage of a cold or within one month after a cold, you should go to the cardiology department for examination.

Warning: Fatigue and dizziness 2 weeks after a cold

Almost everyone has had a cold countless times, but the chance of developing viral myocarditis from a cold is less than 1%. "Children around ten years old are at high risk of this disease," said the expert. People of any age who catch a cold have the possibility of developing myocarditis, but because children around 10 years old have heavy homework, weaker resistance, and like to run around, they are more likely to be infected by the cold virus. If you don’t take a rest after catching a cold, the virus may invade your heart, causing the following symptoms:

Mild symptoms: Fatigue, dizziness, and chest tightness begin to appear 1 to 3 weeks after a cold, and the patient always feels very tired. This is the most common clinical symptom.

Severe symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath, arrhythmia, heart failure, premature beats.

In clinical practice, patients often develop symptoms of myocarditis 1 to 3 weeks after catching a cold, and a small number of patients develop myocardial damage as soon as they catch a cold. Some patients with viral myocarditis have very mild symptoms and will not experience any discomfort. If they pay attention to rest, the disease will heal itself. Viral myocarditis is a curable disease. Patients can return to normal without relapse and without any sequelae. The key is to recognize the above symptoms and take early treatment measures.

Treatment: Absolute rest is treatment. Getting enough rest and significantly reducing physical activity are the main treatments for viral myocarditis.

Experts remind that patients with mild myocarditis do not need to take medicine at all, just rest in bed, and they can get out of bed when the symptoms disappear completely, but they still need to rest for 3 to 4 weeks, during which time they can only do light daily physical activities; patients with severe heart failure who have chest tightness, heart failure, and heart enlargement should use symptomatic medication, and rest for about a year after the symptoms disappear, during which time they can also only do light physical activities, such as eating, dressing, and walking slowly, to avoid increasing the burden on the heart. "Although there is no need to restrict mental work such as reading and watching TV, patients should not overdo it to avoid mental fatigue.

During the recuperation period, students must take a leave of absence from school, and office workers are advised to take a long sick leave. The child has poor self-control and cannot control himself from fighting with classmates and participating in sports activities with other children. So it is recommended to stay home from school. By the same token, adult patients can only engage in light daily activities during the recovery period. If they want to continue working, they must ensure a low work intensity. They basically do not need to walk around, and they walk slowly to and from get off work. Once the doctor determines that the myocarditis has been cured, life can go back to normal without any taboos.

Clinically, doctors are quite strict in judging this disease, and it can be said that “it is better to kill by mistake than to let the patient go.” As long as there are symptoms of viral myocarditis and the patient had a cold 1 to 3 weeks ago, the disease is highly suspected and the patient will be required to receive treatment. Jin Lijun explained that this approach makes sense. Because myocarditis is easy to treat and has a very good prognosis, it has no sequelae at all and will not recur once it is truly cured. But if treatment is missed, the consequences can be extremely serious.

According to experts , in some seriously ill patients, the entire heart stopped contracting and it was initially thought to be a myocardial infarction. However, no abnormalities were found in coronary angiography (the gold standard for diagnosing myocardial infarction), and it was actually viral myocarditis. Therefore, Jin Lijun warned readers to recognize the symptoms of the disease. If not treated actively, viral myocarditis may develop into chronic persistent myocarditis, and in severe cases develop into cardiomyopathy. Recurrent heart failure and arrhythmias seriously affect heart function and may even lead to shock and sudden death in daily life.

Rest is both prevention and treatment

Rest is the main method for treating viral myocarditis, and it is also an important method for preventing the disease. Experts emphasize that if you have a cold, you should actively treat it, drink plenty of water, and get plenty of rest. Take some cold medicine if necessary. If you do not get enough rest after catching a cold and continue to do strenuous work, the possibility of developing viral myocarditis will increase a lot.

In addition, everyone should actively prevent colds. Exercise regularly to strengthen your physical fitness, avoid excessive fatigue, and ensure a balanced and nutritious diet. People with weak constitutions and who are easily susceptible to colds can get a flu vaccine in the spring. The vaccine provides protection for 12 months.