Article content
According to statistics, every year in Slovakia alone around 10000 people die from heart problems. It concerns both men and women and the main cause is their lifestyle.
However, there are certain warning signs that your heart will start sending you if a problem has occurred in its functioning.
It’s good to know about these symptoms so you can intervene and fix the problem before more serious diseases such as a heart attack or heart failure appear.
Today we’ll reveal 8 such possible symptoms that you should pay attention to.
1. Pain that radiates into the shoulder
When the heart is malfunctioning, men usually feel pain in the left arm, whereas in women it can be any arm, or both at once.
Women also report that shortly before a heart attack they experienced pain in the elbow.
You feel pain in the arm because nerve signals travel from the heart to the spinal cord, where nerves are often interconnected.
The brain is then confused about where the pain actually comes from and thinks it’s the arm, whereas in reality it’s the heart.
2. A cough that doesn’t stop
A cough can have various causes.
One of them is cardiovascular disease, especially if the cough persists long-term, or if the coughed-up phlegm contains blood, which is typical in heart failures.
A cough can also be a sub-symptom of a much more serious condition, dyspnea, which means sudden loss of breath.
3. Swollen legs, ankles and feet
When your heart doesn’t pump blood adequately, fluid from the blood penetrates into surrounding tissues. Usually, due to gravity, the lower limbs are most affected, where this manifests as swelling.
It is a fairly common symptom in patients with a poorly functioning heart, so you should pay proper attention to swellings.
4. Loss of appetite and nausea
Many patients suffering from heart disease are characterized by loss of appetite or nausea, even when they have eaten only a small amount of food.
The reason is the accumulation of fluid around the liver and intestines, which prevents proper digestion. In addition, they often experience abdominal pain.
If you experience all these symptoms at once, you should seek medical help to be safe.
5. Extreme and unusual anxiety
Several studies have shown that people affected by extreme anxiety at a young age are more prone to heart disease.
Anxiety can be caused either by a stressful lifestyle or by various mental illnesses such as panic disorder or anxiety phobia.
Effects of anxiety on the heart include tachycardia (unusually rapid heartbeat), increased blood pressure and reduced heart rate.
6. Fading consciousness or fainting
Loss of consciousness and fainting are common manifestations in patients with impaired heart function.
When the heart pumps blood insufficiently, it may be due to a blocked artery or narrowed heart chambers.
If you experience gasping for breath, or fainting within a short time span, immediately call a doctor and have your heart checked.
7. Pale to bluish skin
It’s not a typical sign of heart problems. However, if it occurs, it is due to poor circulation and a reduced volume of red blood cells.
The main reason for pale to bluish skin is having experienced shock. It can appear on the entire body or only in some body parts, for example on the hands, feet or face.
If you notice that you have become pale, do not panic. Make sure that you have not just experienced some emotional shock or that the reason isn’t anemia by chance.
8. Rashes or unusual eczema on the skin
Two research projects carried out by the journals Allergy & Clinical Immunology and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that eczema are high-risk factors for heart disease.
People with eczema have a 48% probability of also suffering from high blood pressure and a 29% probability of high cholesterol.
Moreover, patients with shingles had up to a 59% higher risk of heart attack than people without this condition.
Conclusion
Remember that prevention is the best medicine for all illnesses.
Adhering to the principles of a healthy lifestyle, exercising, not smoking and abstaining (or at least moderate drinking) play an important role in maintaining a healthy heart.
The warning signs listed do not have to appear in every patient with impaired heart function, but they are the most common symptoms.
