Health Encyclopedia - Guide to the Prevention and Treatment of Heart Disease

Author: Takagi Makoto
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Preface
Thirty-three years ago in autumn was an unforgettable day. I underwent a blood test at the hospital to check my health condition. The results showed that my cholesterol level was outside the normal range, and I realized I had hypercholesterolemia. At that time, a medical journal in the United States had published news that risk factors for atherosclerosis were gradually gaining attention. In fact, none of the previous generations in my family lived to be 70. My father passed away at 65, and my mother died at 67 after suffering from angina for many years. In reality, if my mother had had access to the nitroglycerin that people are familiar with today during her illness, it could have been treated, but such medication was not available in Japan back then. Since I didn’t know my parents’ cholesterol levels at the time, I privately assumed I wouldn’t live a long life either. However, being young at the time, I didn’t feel the actual threat or feel desperate. By chance, I began a three-year study abroad in the United States in 1962. At that time, the United States was in an era of economic prosperity and confidence under President Kennedy. The hospital where I studied was a renowned educational institution, famous for its delicious meals for resident interns. Breakfast consisted of boiled eggs with bacon, lunch and dinner were hearty meat dishes with ice cream, and during holidays when traveling with my family, we often ate grilled food. Living in this dietary environment for three years, upon returning to Japan, I conducted a detailed blood test on myself. To my astonishment, my cholesterol level had been 260 mg/dL before, but it had risen to 430 mg/dL then. From that point on, for the next 30-plus years, my family strictly controlled the consumption of egg yolks. However, I had always loved eggs, especially omelets, so my wife would often remind me, "If you live to be 80, you’ll definitely get to eat them!" So, in daily life, I could only admire the omelets placed before the household altar. Not to joke, even with such caution, my cholesterol level remained stubbornly high, fluctuating between 300 and 400 mg/dL. After returning from the United States, I worked at a public hospital as the head of the cardiovascular department. At the age of 40, I didn’t feel any abnormalities in my heart or related organs. I was completely immersed in my work, even working on holidays, truly "working tirelessly." If I had fallen ill at that time, by today’s standards, it might have been considered "death from overwork." In the early summer of 1973, I was 48. One morning while going to work, as I walked toward the second-floor room, my heart felt as if it was being torn, and I experienced a pain I had never encountered before. After a while, the symptoms subsided, and I calmed down within two or three minutes. I realized it was angina, and I was shocked that the disease had come so quickly, much earlier than I had expected. While waiting for the clinical staff to arrive, before the diagnosis began, I had an electrocardiogram done. It showed a slight ST segment depression, but this was not a recording from the time of the symptom onset, and it didn’t provide enough information. After completing the routine tests, in the afternoon, I took the time for an exercise tolerance electrocardiogram. During this test, I had to walk up and down a special small staircase for observation. The exercise tolerance test lasted for two or three minutes, and while climbing the stairs to the second floor, I experienced the same angina as before, and the test was interrupted. To take an electrocardiogram, I lay down on the bed... [more content]