Economic Observation Network According to CCTV News App, people often associate "purple lips" with "poor heart", and similar discussions often appear online. So what exactly is causing the lips to turn purple? Does it really mean that the heart is not good?

When brushing their teeth at night, some people suddenly stop in front of the mirror - their lips under the light seem a little darker than usual, even faintly turning purple. Such moments often bring a direct association: Is there a problem with the heart?

But from a medical perspective,Purple lips are more like a hint,Instead of a definite answer,Not AllSlightly DarkOrPartialPurple lips indicate abnormality.

The reason why lips are easy to observe is because the skin here is thinner and the blood vessels are abundant.

When deoxyhemoglobin in the blood increases to a certain extent, the local area will appear blue purple, which is medically known as cyanosis.Usually, this change can only be detected by the naked eye when the concentration of reduced hemoglobin in the blood reaches about 5.0 grams per deciliter or higher.

Further tracing its origin, it can be found that the onset of cyanosis is actually a result of multiple systems involved: the lungs are responsible for gas exchange, and once ventilation or ventilation problems occur, blood oxygen levels will decrease; The heart is responsible for circulation, and if there are structural or functional abnormalities, it may allow insufficiently oxygenated blood to enter the systemic circulation; If there are abnormalities in the blood itself, it can also affect the transport and release of oxygen.

Therefore,Simply attributing purple lips to poor heart function often overlooks a more complete physiological background.

Before determining abnormal lip color, it is necessary to clarify a more fundamental question - what constitutes normal lip color?

Actually,Our lip color itself does not have a unified standard.A study of 514 women showed significant individual differences in natural lip color, ultimately leading to 53 different types of lip color. There is a lot of overlap between different people, and there is no absolute unified standard color.

That's why some people tend to be reddish, some are darker, and some have a slight purple tone, but these differences themselves do not necessarily point to health issues.

In practical judgment, what is more important than color depth is whether there has been a change.Long term stable lip color usually has little significance; ButSignificant changes that occur in a short period of time are more worthy of attention.This shift from "static colors" to "dynamic changes" in observation is often closer to the logic of medical judgment.

In winter or air-conditioned environments, many people may briefly experience purple lips, but they quickly return to normal. This situation is often related to peripheral vascular reactions.

Cold stimulation can cause vasoconstriction, slowing down local blood flow and increasing oxygen utilization, resulting in temporary color changes. This type of peripheral cyanosis usually does not involve the oral mucosa, the tongue color remains normal, and can be restored after being kept warm.

In contrast, central cyanosis involves systemic oxygenation issues. At this time, not only do the lips turn purple, but the tongue and oral mucosa also change color synchronously, and often persist, making it difficult to relieve on its own.

In real life, the distinction between these two is not complicated:Is there a clear cause, can it be restored, and is the oral mucosa affected,Often, key clues have already been provided.

In addition, in some cases related to vascular function, such as limb cyanosis, cold can induce symmetrical cyanosis, usually without pain or accompanying systemic discomfort. These contexts further suggest that the color change itself needs to be understood in the specific context.

If we shift our focus to infants and young children, the situation will be different.

In China, approximately 150000 newborns are affected by congenital heart disease each year, with about one-third of them requiring early intervention. Some of these children may experience persistent cyanosis in the early stages of birth.

It is worth noting that even under the screening system, about 0.07% of screening negative infants are subsequently diagnosed with congenital heart disease. That is to say, the initial screening results cannot completely replace subsequent observations.

Therefore,In infants and young children, if there is persistent lip discoloration, especially accompanied by feeding difficulties, worsening crying, or poor weight gain, early medical evaluation should be sought.

Sometimes,Even if no abnormalities are found in the heart and lung examinationsPurple still exists. In this case, it is necessary toFurther consider blood factors.

For example, methemoglobinemia can cause changes in the structure of hemoglobin, affecting its ability to release oxygen normally. In a report, a 49 day old baby showed significant cyanosis, with a high iron hemoglobin ratio of 44.7% and a special color in the blood, which did not improve significantly with routine oxygen therapy.

This type of situation suggests that purple emission is not always due to insufficient oxygen supply, but may also involve changes in the "oxygen carrying and releasing mechanisms". Understanding this can help avoid simplifying judgments.

In a family environment, most people do not have the ability to make medical judgments, so there is no need to try to "guess diseases" based on color.

A more practical approach is to observe around several key issues:

• Is this change new and ongoing;
• Is there a clear trigger, such as coldness or emotional changes;
• Can it recover after resting or keeping warm;
• Whether accompanied by shortness of breath, chest tightness, fatigue and other symptoms;
• For infants and young children, it is also necessary to pay attention to feeding and growth status.

If conditions permit, finger clip oximeters can be used as auxiliary tools. Although there may be some errors, it is more informative compared to visual judgment. ifContinuous low blood oxygen levels, or accompanied by obvious discomfort, should be promptly evaluated by medical attention.

As mentioned at the beginning, the color of the lips is more of a hint.What really needs attention is the changes behind it and the other signals the body is sending out.