This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Yu Haiting hesitated for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Yesterday, I admitted a patient with hypertension. But just now, during the ward round, his family said the patient felt dizzy this morning; he was so woozy he couldn't even stand."

Du Heng became even more puzzled. Isn't dizziness a normal reaction for patients with high blood pressure?

Yu Haiting saw Du Heng's puzzled look, realized he hadn't explained himself well, and quickly clarified, "When the patient was admitted yesterday, his systolic blood pressure was 200mmHg and his diastolic pressure was 160mmHg..."

Before Yu Haiting could finish, Du Heng stood up in surprise.

He was a TCM doctor, true, but he knew the basic Western medicine data.

"I remember systolic pressure greater than 180 is considered severe hypertension, right? 200/160, how is he now?"

Yu Haiting smacked his lips. "That's the problem. When the patient was admitted yesterday, he walked in by himself. There was no visible issue from the outside; he was just like a normal person. I was shocked after measuring his blood pressure.

"At his family's strong recommendation, I admitted him. I administered treatment to lower his blood pressure and measured it again this morning. The systolic pressure dropped to 180, but now, he's so dizzy he can't even get up. I wanted to ask you, Dean, whether I should continue to lower his blood pressure or raise it back."

Raise it back? Du Heng thought. A diastolic pressure of 200! That could easily lead to a heart attack or stroke in minutes.

"200/160, his pulse pressure isn't that large."

"Indeed, the pulse pressure isn't large."

"Have you done tests like electrocardiograms? Is arterial sclerosis a possibility? I remember patients with arterial sclerosis don't show obvious symptoms when their blood pressure is this high."

"We've done an electrocardiogram, B-ultrasound, and blood tests. Other than high blood pressure, his blood lipids are a little high, but everything else is normal."

Could he have a constitution that can withstand high pressure?

But no matter how well he might tolerate high pressure, values of 200/160 are no joke.

"How did you handle such cases in the past?" In terms of lowering blood pressure, Du Heng's experience was genuinely not as extensive as Yu Haiting's.

Now that Yu Haiting had come to him for advice, it felt a bit like the blind leading the blind.

But Yu Haiting was out of ideas, so he, as the hospital's leader, had to make the decision. They could either grit their teeth and continue lowering the blood pressure to a reasonable level, or stop the medication and let the pressure rise back to its initial value.

However, either option posed a certain risk now, creating a difficult predicament.

"I've treated patients with hypertension before, but I've never encountered blood pressure this high. Usually, after treatment to lower blood pressure, patients feel much more relaxed. This is the first time I've seen someone feel dizzy after their blood pressure has been lowered."

Yu Haiting answered Du Heng's question with a troubled expression.

Du Heng himself had no solution. He thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the patient's room and see him."

There was no other way; they had to see the patient's condition with their own eyes before making a decision.

In the hospital room, the patient lay on the sick bed, dazedly turning over. A female family member stood beside him; it was unclear if she was his daughter-in-law or daughter.

On the other side of the bed, there was a young girl whose age was hard to determine at first glance. Judging from her still childlike face, she looked to be about eleven or twelve years old. However, the girl was very plump, about as wide as an adult male, and stood about 1.5 meters tall. If one looked only at her physique, she might seem fifteen or sixteen.

"Dean, this is the patient's daughter." Yu Haiting then turned to the family member. "This is our Dean. I invited him over to check on your father's condition."

Du Heng's gaze lingered on the little girl for a minute before he asked the family member, "How many years has your father had high blood pressure?"

"Almost twenty years, I think. He had high blood pressure when he worked at the factory, but I was young back then, and my dad didn't feel any discomfort, so he never took it seriously."

"Then why did you suddenly have your father hospitalized yesterday? Was he feeling unwell?"

The family member shook her head and glanced worriedly at her father on the sick bed. "You know those small, home blood pressure monitors they sell online now? I thought they seemed pretty good, so I bought one for my dad.

"Yesterday, when we got it home and measured his pressure, the systolic was 210. I looked it up online, and it said that with such high blood pressure, blood vessels could burst at any time, potentially causing cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, or other sudden diseases. So, I brought my dad here."

"So, you're saying your father didn't have any symptoms like dizziness, headache, or nausea before this?"

"No, and he's actually still working the night shift as a security guard for a company. He's in great spirits."

"Has your father ever taken antihypertensive drugs before?"

"Ever since he was diagnosed with hypertension, my dad has never taken any antihypertensive drugs, and he doesn't want to. He says that once you start taking those drugs, you can't stop, and they create dependence."

Du Heng pursed his lips.

The patient on the bed and his granddaughter nearby were complete opposites.

The granddaughter was very chubby—an unhealthy, almost greasy kind of fat. She was clearly a little girl, yet she had rolls of fat on her belly. Her physical development, in particular, was excessive. Some of her feminine features were more prominent than those of an adult woman.

The patient, however, was gaunt and wiry, without a trace of visible fat.

"What is your father's usual diet like? Have you tried to control it? For example, by encouraging him to eat more vegetables and less meat?"

The family member shook her head. "My dad never shortchanges himself when it comes to food; you could say he can't live without meat. As far back as I can remember, every morning when he goes to work, he has to eat a bowl of beef noodles with an extra serving of meat. Or, he'll have a bread with stewed tofu skin—the kind that's stewed in meat broth.

"Also, my dad eats fried chicken every other day. My mom makes him a big bowl of it, with nothing else in it, just meat, and he eats the whole bowl every time. My daughter has picked up the habit from him. Look at her now! She's only 9 years old this year."

Du Heng couldn't help but turn to look at the girl beside him. Only 9 years old? I just estimated her to be 11 or 12.

Hearing the family member's words, Du Heng found himself taking another couple of glances at the girl.

For an eleven- or twelve-year-old to have this level of development might be borderline acceptable, but for a nine-year-old, it was a bit much.

This degree of development was not a good thing for a nine-year-old girl.

Inadvertently, Du Heng's and Yu Haiting's gazes met for a moment.

However, he didn't immediately address the girl's issue, because he was simultaneously shocked by the patient's diet.

A bowl of plain fried chicken, eaten every other day... Du Heng didn't need to eat it, or even see it; just hearing about it made him feel unbearably greasy.