12 possible heart symptoms never to
ignore
Don’t miss these 12 possible
warning signs that something
Is amiss with your heart
Heart disease is the
No. 1 killer of U.S men and women, accounting for 40% of all deaths. That’s
more than all forms of cancer combined.
Why is heart disease so
deadly? One reason is that many people are slow to seek help when symptoms
arise. Yes, someone gripped by sudden chest pain probably knows to call 911.
But heart symptoms aren’t always intense or obvious. And they vary from –person
to person and according to gender. Because it can be hard to make sense of
heart symptoms, doctors warn against ignoring possible warning signs, touching
them out, waiting to see if they go away, or being quick to blamed them on
heartburn, muscle soreness, or other less serious, noncardiac causes. That’s
especially true for men and people over 65, as well as for people with other
cardiac risk factors, such as high cholesterol or blood pressure, obesity,
smoking, diabetes, or a family history of heart disease.
“The more risk factors
you factors you have, the higher the likelihood that a symptom means something
is going on with your heart,” says David Frid, MD, a cardiologist at the
Cleveland Clinic.
“People often don’t
want to admit that they ‘re old enough or sick enough to have heart trouble.
Putting off treatment for other medical problems might not be so bad, but a
serious heart problem can mean sudden death. It’s better to go in and get it
evaluated than to be dead.”
12
Possible Heart Symptoms Never to Ignore
Here
are a dozen symptoms that may signal heart trouble.
1.
Anxiety.
Heart attack can cause intense anxiety or a fear of death. Heart attack
survivors often talk about having experienced a sense of “impending doom.”
2.
Chest
discomfort. Pain in the chest is the classic symptom of heart
attack, and “the No. 1 symptom that we typically look for,” says Jean C.
McSweeney, PhD, RN, associate dean for research at the University of Arkansas
for Medical Sciences College of Nursing in little Rock and a pioneer in
research on heart symptoms in women. But not all heart attacks cause chest
pain, and chest pain can stem from ailments that have nothing to do with the
heart.
Heart-
related chest pain is often centered under the breastbone, perhaps a little to
the left of center. The pain has been likened to “an elephant sitting on the
chest,” but it can also be an uncomfortable sensation of pressure, squeezing,
or fullness. “It’s not unusual for women to describe the pain as a minor ache,”
McSweeney says. “Some women say the pain wasn’t bad enough even to take a
Tylenol.”
Women,
more so than men, can also experience a burning sensation in their chest,
rather than a pressure or pain.
“Sometimes
people make the mistake that the pain comes from a stomach problem,” says Nieca
Goldberg, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at the NYU Langone
Medical Center in New York City and another expert on women’s heart symptoms.
3.
Cough.
Persistent coughing or wheezing can be symptom of heart failure—a result of
fluid accumulation in the lungs. In some cases, people with heart failure cough
up bloody phlegm.
4.
Dizziness. Heart attacks can cause
lightheadedness and loss of conscious. So can potentially dangerous heart
rhythm abnormalities known as arrhythmias.
5.
Fatigue.
Especially among women, usual fatigue can occur during a heart attack as well
as in the days and weeks leading up to one. And feeling tired all the time may
be a symptom of heart failure.
Of
course, you can also feel tired or fatigued for other reasons. How can you tell
heart-related fatigue from other types of fatigue?
“If
you don’t feel well and all the wind is knocked out of your sails, don’t try to
figure it out on the Internet or from a book, “says Goldberg. “Wasting time is
dangerous.”
6.
Nausea
or lack of appetite. It’s not uncommon for people to feel
sick to their stomach or throw up during a heart attack. And abdominal swelling
associated with heart failure can interfere with appetite.
7.
Pain
in other parts of the body. In many heart attacks, pain
begins in the chest and spreads to the shoulders, arms, elbows, back, neck, jaw
or abdomen. But sometimes there is no chest pain-just pain in these other body
areas. The pain might come and go.
Men
having a heart attack often feel pain in the left arm. In women, the pain is
more likely to be felt in both arms or between the shoulders blades.
8.
Rapid
or irregular pulse. Doctors say that there’s nothing
worrisome about an occasional skipped heartbeat. But a rapid or irregular
pulse-- especially when accompanied by weakness, dizziness, or shortness of
breath—can be evidence of a heart attack, heart failure, or an arrhythmia. Left
untreated, some arrhythmias can lead to stroke, heart failure, or sudden death.
9.
Shortness
of breath. People who feel winded at rest or with minimal
exertion might have a pulmonary condition like asthma or chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD). But breathlessness could also indicate a heart attack
or heart failure.
“Sometimes
people having a heart attack don’t have chest pressure or pain but feel
extremely short of breath,” Goldberg says. “It’s like they’ve just run a
marathon when they haven’t even moved.” During a heart attack, shortness of
breath often accompanies chest discomfort, but it can also occur before or
without chest discomfort.
10.
Sweating. Breaking out in a cold seat
is a common symptom of heart attack. “ You might just be sitting in a chair
when all of a sudden you are really sweating like you had just worked out,”
Frid says.
11.
Swelling. Heart failure can cause fluid
to accumulate in the body. This can cause swelling (often in the feel, ankles
legs or abdomen) as well as sudden weight gain and sometimes a loss of
appetite.
12.
Weakness. In the days leading up to a
heart attack, as well as during one, some people experience severe, unexplained
weakness. “One woman told me it felt like she couldn’t hold a piece of paper
between her fingers, “McSweeney says.
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