Heart Disease Symptoms
Experiencing Any of These Symptoms? Here’s When to See A Specialist
The thought that you may be experiencing heart disease symptoms can be scary. If you’ve never had any other issues with your heart, it can be a challenging time. However, there is a bright side, and it needn’t necessarily be as scary as you may think. When the common symptoms of heart disease are caught early, the issue can usually be diagnosed and treated quickly and efficiently. This is often possible without the need for invasive surgery. So, when it comes to early symptoms of heart disease, while you may feel anxious, it really is best to be in the know about your health. This is so you can spot any potential heart valve disease symptoms early, which can help you rule out heart disease altogether, or alternatively, help you get the proper treatment for it. Read on for more information on types of heart diseases and their symptoms, and the most common symptoms of heart disease.
Classic Heart Disease Symptoms – Chest Pain
One of the classic coronary heart disease symptoms is chest pain. This is the most well known symptom of heart disease in men and women. You will feel a central ache in the chest, often felt as a crushing chest pain or discomfort. On top of this, you may feel pain in the jaw, arm, neck and back. This pain may feel like it is ‘radiating’ in the jaw and often down the left arm. Women experiencing the most common symptoms of heart disease are less likely to have the ‘crushed chest’ feeling, while it affects both genders, it is commonly one of the symptoms of heart disease in men. And while the ‘crushed chest’ feeling may be horrible, it’s actually a very important guide to be sure that you need to visit a specialist. The feeling is hard to ignore, and easy to pinpoint to your chest. As the symptoms of heart disease in women can be less obviously connected to the chest and heart, it can be easier for them to ignore their symptoms or brush it off as something else – which can have a negative effect in the long term. Either way, if you feel chest pains that don’t go away – often on exertion – it may be a symptom of heart disease or heart attack. Atypical heart pain is sometimes confused as indigestion, so it’s important to note whether you begin to feel it in your jaw and arm, too.
There are a few cardiac causes of chest pain, such as the narrowing of heart arteries, and aortic stenosis, so it’s important to monitor your chest pain symptoms.
Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms – Shortness of Breath
If you have recently developed breathlessness either during exercise or at rest this could indicate lung problems, or heart problems. One of the early symptoms of heart disease can be unexpected breathlessness. Be aware that when breathlessness is combined with one of the other top 5 heart valve disease symptoms, a cardiac cause becomes more likely.
There are a few potential cardiac causes for heart disease symptoms like breathlessness. For example, narrowing of heart arteries, valve disease, and heart failure. If you’re experiencing breathlessness in a way that you don’t usually feel, it’s best to get this checked out by a specialist as soon as possible.
It can be difficult to know when you should book to see a specialist and what exactly the symptoms of Heart Disease are. From the more well known symptoms such as chest pains, to lesser known issues like ankle swelling, we have compiled a guide on what to look out for with Heart Disease symptoms and what you can do in both the short and long term to help, leading to potential surgery. Download our free guide today.
Well Known Heart Disease Symptoms – Palpitations
Everyone experiences the odd jumped heartbeat – this isn’t out of the ordinary and isn’t necessarily one of the symptoms of heart disease in women or men. But if you suffer from frequent heart flutters, or palpitations as they’re known – especially when episodes last several minutes or hours – then this needs to be investigated urgently. Fluttering heartbeat, or palpitations, are one of the most common early symptoms of heart disease. If you have heart palpitations and also feel dizzy, you should see a doctor urgently.
If you are experiencing heart palpitations, there are a few potential cardiac causes. For example, it may be a symptom of narrowing heart arteries, or heart valve disease. It could also be isolated cardiac arrhythmia like atrial fibrillation, or atrial flutters. While the severity of these issues range, it’s always a good idea to have the issue checked by an expert.
Early Sign of Heart Disease – Ankle Swelling
Ankle swelling is something that you may not instantly recognise to be one of the early symptoms of heart disease. This is because people don’t often associate their ankles with their heart. However, this can actually be one of the most common – yet often overlooked – heart valve disease symptoms. It can be a sign of heart failure, and this is because when your heart is struggling, the blood flow slows down, and then ‘backs up’, blocking the veins in your legs. This causes fluid to build up in your ankles, causing swelling. If you notice this as one of the symptoms of heart disease in men and women, you might also notice swelling or weight gain elsewhere, such as on the stomach.
One of The Symptoms of Heart Disease in Women & Men – Dizziness
Dizziness is quite a sinister sign of heart valve disease, or heart rhythm problems. This is caused by a lack of blood flow from the heart, and can be accompanied by fainting, or feeling extremely tired. It can even cause feelings of nausea. If you experience dizziness and no other symptoms, it may be vertigo, or even lifestyle choices (such as dehydration etc) – but when combined with other heart valve disease symptoms, it can quickly pose as a threat, and should be checked out immediately.
Early Symptoms of Heart Disease – When Should You See A Specialist?
There are a few underlying conditions that may cause more risk for heart disease, and therefore you may be more susceptible to experiencing coronary heart disease symptoms. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, mental health issues, are going through the menopause, have a history of pregnancy complications, have a risk of inflammatory diseases, have high cholesterol, or are a smoker – as well as typical causes, like inactivity, obesity and unhealthy lifestyle choices – you should be hyper aware of if you begin to experience early symptoms of heart disease.
This is because while some signs and symptoms of coronary heart disease can be put down to other issues, these conditions increase your chance of having heart disease. So – if this is you – and you start to see the signs; pay close attention.
The common symptoms of heart disease in its early stages are uncomfortable but are sometimes ultimately ignored. We understand that with a busy schedule, it can be easy to ignore your own needs, and to attend to more pressing issues. But the downside of this is that if you are experiencing the early signs of heart disease symptoms – and you ignore it – you may be making your treatment and recovery harder. The risk of heart disease only increases with age, so there is little benefit to ‘putting off’ treatment, or even just talking to an expert about what you are experiencing. To catch any issues before they become advanced heart disease symptoms, see your doctor as soon as possible, and explain you believe you may be experiencing the most common symptoms of heart disease.
How The Keyhole Heart Clinic Can Help You
The Keyhole Heart Clinic’s team are industry experts in many different types of heart diseases and their symptoms. We can give you advice, treatment, and surgical options for heart disease symptoms treatment and prevention, to make sure you can live the healthiest, fullest life possible. We understand the physical and emotional toll that ischemic heart disease symptoms can have on a person and want to help everyone feel their best selves. Read our testimonials to find out what our patients have to say about us, and get in contact to talk to one of our keyhole surgery experts today. Don’t ignore heart disease symptoms – let us help you today.
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