American cardiologists have found a simple and affordable way to learn about the threat of aortic aneurysm to a critical moment – its gap, reports the magazine The American Journal of Cardiology. This asymptomatic fatal disease takes the lives of 50 percent of patients to hospitalization, and after surgery, their survival – 50 to 50.
“The biggest problem with aneurysm is the possibility of identifying potential carriers of the disease among the population to the gap of the aneurysms,” said Dr. John A. Eleftheriaies, the senior author of the study and honorary director of the institute of study of the Aorta in the Yale Hospital of New Haven in Connecticut.
Cardiologists offered to diagnose a simple thumb test. You need to raise your hand, as if speaking someone “stand!”, Then pull the thumb so far as possible, towards the maiden. According to the researchers, if the thumb goes over the edge of the palm, then this may be a sign of a hidden aortic aneurysm, and a doctor should be checked.
The ability to move with a thumb during the test can also be a sign that the bones are thinned and elongated, and the joints are weakened – possible symptoms of the connection of the connective tissue throughout the body, including the aorta, scientists believe.
Not everyone who can move the finger during the test, threatens aneurysm. Dr. Eleftheriahes believes that, although this test is an insufficient tool for confirming the diagnosis, it should be recommended to those who have aortic aneurysm in the family history.
According to American cardiologists, aortic aneurysm in the overwhelming majority is striking men aged 50 years and older. The exact causes of the disease are not established, but a certain negative impact on the artery has smoking, causing their solidification. The high-fat diet and overweight also increase the risk of breaking blood vessels.
The thumb test was recommended as a method for identifying ascending aortic aneurysms – parts of the blood vessel, which comes out of the heart. However, aneurysm can occur in different parts of the aorta, including the abdominal department, which leads to the arteries of the legs.