Giovanni Esposito, one of the doctors who recorded the prevention advice for #samebeat
On the occasion of September 29, World Heart Day, this year Humanitas Gavazzeni of Bergamo created #stessobattito, a heart health prevention project.
Ten stories of care of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases collected in podcasts that can be listened to on the website www.humanitasgavazzeni.it or on the Spotify profile. Together with them, the voices of the doctors of Humanitas Gavazzeni who followed them along the path of treatment with the aim of encouraging prevention and listening to the heart.
The aneurysm is one of the pathologies treated with the story of Gerardo, 66 years old from Bergamo who had hidden behind a strong back pain. “An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a pathological swelling of a portion of the aorta passing through the abdomen. The aorta is the largest and most important arterial vessel in the human body: it originates directly from the heart and spreads blood to the whole organism ”, explains Giovanni Esposito of Humanitas Gavazzeni, Gerardo’s vascular cardiologist, in the podcast. «Normally the diameter of the abdominal aorta measures about 2 centimeters: we speak of an aneurysm when the swelling reaches at least 3 centimeters, it becomes large when it exceeds 5 centimeters. In Gerardo he was 7 – adds Dr. Esposito -. For him, the pain in his back was nothing more than the presence of a 7 cm aneurysm of the abdominal aorta that compressed the nerve roots ».
The testimonies of doctor and patient intertwine, telling the path of treatment from the first symptoms to recovery. «They prescribe me a CT scan of the abdomen and a cardiological examination. In the hospital I don’t have time to finish the exam, which they urgently transfer me to the ward – says Gerardo -. There was a big aneurysm in the abdominal aorta that had been there, latent, who knows how long and the back pain was the signal, that terrible pain that I had been living with for about a year now. I thought it was the job: preparing pallets with newspapers and distributing them door to door ». «I still remember the incredulity and great fear when he realized he had a” bomb in his belly “, ready to explode at any moment and the need for urgent surgery – explains the vascular cardiologist of Humanitas Gavazzeni -. There was no time to waste, and it is precisely in this moment that the relationship of trust between the doctor and the patient expresses all its strength ».
A story with a happy ending with Gerardo’s return home, goodbye to back pain, a heart that is now fine and the decision to start enjoying life slowly again. “Sometimes I smile to myself for the little things, of a life earned, as if I had just caught it again, without the time to understand that it was flying away. My life has been caged, I hold it tight. Also for this I am grateful for that Tac ».
In the podcast, there is also no shortage of prevention advice from the doctor. “They are indications linked to a good quality of life: do not smoke, practice physical activity regularly, eat healthy and balanced, lose weight if you are overweight and do not drink alcohol – adds Dr. Esposito -. It is important to keep diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension under control. Furthermore, after the age of 65, it may be useful to perform an abdominal ultrasound, even more so if there is a familiarity with this pathology “.
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