The conference organized by Charity on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases brought together more than 80 people on Saturday April 20, in the conference room of Vic town hall.
La Bienfaisance had invited Doctor Michel Loubet, a cardiologist in Pau, to talk to us about cardiovascular prevention, the alpha and omega of good health, better quality of life and optimized longevity.
There is no doubt that for the speaker, this event had a special character because, as President Christiane Goergen-Trépout recalled in her introduction, Michel’s father held the position of Mayor of Vic from 1965 to 1971.
It was therefore with a certain emotion that Dr Michel Loubet delivered his valuable advice to the Vicois public in this city where he kept ties and many childhood memories.
Prevention: a real interest in fighting cardiovascular diseases
First, Michel Loubet recalled some key points in the functioning of this muscle, which through its regular contraction, supplies all our organs with oxygen and nutrients to our body via the blood.
But the conference mainly focused on cardiovascular prevention: the doctor recalled the importance since the cardiovascular mortality rate has been divided by three over the last forty years, thanks to prevention and diagnostic and therapeutic progress.
Prevention is, depending on the case, primary when one is free from cardiovascular disease, secondary after a myocardial infarction, stents, stroke, arteritis, bypasses, etc.
Assessing the risks when faced with the sometimes silent first symptoms of heart disease
Michel Loubet indicated that the assessment of cardiovascular risk is essential and explained that if one cannot modify one’s sex, age and heredity, other factors can be modified such as smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, stress, sedentary lifestyle….
In this, he gave valuable life advice to follow to take care of your heart: our heart is better when we move, exercise makes it stronger!
Diet is also essential because it allows us to act on risk factors such as obesity, excess cholesterol, diabetes, etc., he confirmed the virtues of the Mediterranean diet rich in fiber, potassium and acids. unsaturated fats… with a few surprises however: we learned that a square of 100% chocolate, a Source of flavonoids, would be good for the heart!
He also spoke about the benefits of good sleep, explaining that too short or irregular nights are negative factors.
Sleep apnea, too, constitutes a real danger if we do not detect it and if we do not treat it.
Stress can also harm our cardio system and for this, he defines some techniques to remedy it.
And above all, he insisted on the serial killer “atherosclerosis”: he explained the processes using diagrams and showed that the fight against all risk factors is essential to control its sometimes fatal evolution (occlusion of an artery : myocardial infarction or stroke).
The therapeutic lever of the drug “statin” is often decisive in lowering LDL, the so-called “bad” cholesterol.
He invited the public to self-monitoring, to screening from the age of 50 for men and 60 for women, and to consult at the slightest alert, even if later, in response to a question in the room, he recognized that it wasn’t always easy to get a quick appointment with a cardiologist.
Finally, he indicated that progress in digital medicine and very quickly in artificial intelligence will be a plus in the fight against cardiovascular diseases.
A healthy heart is essential for our body!
The session ended with a lively discussion with the audience, questions to which the speaker answered with kindness and competence.
Text and photos: Beneficence
