Signs and Symptoms of Heart Diseases

What’s covered?

The heart is the largest organ in your circulatory system. It works like a pump that receives deoxygenated blood from the tissue and pushes oxygenated blood to the body.

The whole blood of your body once passes through the heart, therefore chances of diseases are high in the heart.

Any abnormality in your heart may compromise your general health condition.

There are many risk factors involved in heart disease. These factors compromise the blood supply of the cardiac muscles and develop heart disease. When you have heart disease, your body responds to it, in the form of different signs and symptoms.

Prevalence and incidence of heart disease

Studies have shown that around 7 million people are affected by heart disease in the UK. This disease is affecting both genders equally. However, males are at higher risk than females. Around 4 million males and 3 million females are suffering from this disease.

The death ratio of heart disease is around 150,000 deaths per year in the UK. This number is increasing day by day. The incidence of heart disease is high in people who are above 60 years of age.

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease;

Following are some risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.

1. High blood pressure
2. Tobacco smoking
3. High cholesterol levels in the blood
4. Obesity
5. Intake of unhealthy diet
6. Lack of exercise
7. Drinking excessive alcohol
8. Coronary artery disease
9. Family history of heart disease
10. Plaque build-up in blood vessels
11. Peripheral artery disease

What are the different types of heart disease?

There are several types of heart disease

1. Coronary artery disease

Coronary heart disease is also called ischemic heart disease. In the case of heart disease, the blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced, and as a result, ischemia of cardiac muscles occurs.

1. Congenital heart defects

Congenital heart defects occur in infants by birth when a defect occurs in one of the heart valves.

1. Heart failure

In this type of heart disease, your heart completely fails to perform a function. Here, the heart becomes unable to pump blood. Heart failure may lead you to death.

1. Myocardial infarction

Generally, it is known as a heart attack. Heart attack symptoms appear when there is complete blockage of blood flow to the heart.

1. Valve disease

The heart's structure consists of four valves. When there is any abnormality in these valves, then this is called valve disease.

Symptoms of heart disease;

The warning signs of heart disease may not be obvious, and not every person has the same symptoms. Sometimes you may not realise that you are developing heart disease.

Following are the symptoms of heart disease

1. Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing)

Shortness of breath is the hallmark sign of heart disease. Your lungs and heart have a mutual connection for blood exchange.

Therefore, the lungs are affected by heart disease which leads to shortness of breath. Shortness of breath becomes severe on physical exertion.

1. Chest pain

Chest pain is most commonly associated with angina heart disease. Chest pain shows the partial blockage of coronary arteries. Chest pain is not only confined to your chest but also radiated to your arms and jaw. You can notice it on the left side of your body.

In uncontrol angina, the chest pain can also erupt in a laying position, but in control angina, it occurs during physical activity. However, patient with heart disease always lives with chest discomfort.

1. Extreme fatigue

In heart disease, your body becomes tired. Due to inadequate oxygen-rich blood supply to your muscles, anaerobic respiration starts. This type of respiration produces lactic acid as by-products that accumulate in your muscles, and as a result, fatigue occurs.

1. Ankle swelling

In case of heart failure, the fluid is pulled out of the blood vessels and accumulated in the periphery, this condition cause oedema in your body.

In heart disease, oedema is most commonly observed on the ankle of the legs causing ankle swelling. Persistent accumulation of fluid in your may also lead to kidney failure.

1. Irregular heartbeats

The rate at which the heart contacts to supply blood to the organs in a minute is called the heartbeat. Normally, it is 72 times in a minute. The heart rate is controlled by the nervous system of your body.

When you have heart disease, your body's blood demand is not fulfilled by the heart due to poor pumping. For this reason, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems take action and send messages to the heart to contract at a faster rate.

The heart rate speeds up, and blood flow to the organs increases. It is called an irregular heartbeat.

1. Change in skin colour;

Skin normally has a dark brown colour. When you have heart disease, your heart becomes unable to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the skin. Therefore the skin colour turns bluish due to the supply of de-oxygenated blood.

1. Persistent Cough

You may have a persistent cough in heart disease. It is due to fluids accumulating in the lungs, which cause chronic infection of your lungs.

The cough may be dry or with sputum. A cough with sputum is a signal of a more severe condition.

Some people have also experienced blood with their cough. The additional fluid in the lungs may cause tuberculosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Other symptoms include

1. High blood pressure

2. Nausea and vomiting

3. Abnormal heart rhythm

4. Mild discomfort

Prevention of cardiovascular diseases

Heart disease control solely depends on your healthy living. When you have a healthy weight, you will get a healthy heart. Therefore cardiovascular diseases can be prevented with healthy lifestyle choices.

In this regard, your diet plays an important role to get rid of these life-threatening diseases. Your diet must be free from bad cholesterol, which narrowed arteries and causes heart disease.

If you experience any of the above-mentioned symptoms, you need to seek medical emergency attention to prevent heart disease.

Health conditions that have a higher risk for heart disease should be treated.

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