Heart Warning Signs: The Symptoms That You Shouldn't Ignore
Do You know that on an average, more than 17 million people die from heart-related illnesses each year.
On average, more than 17 million people worldwide die each year from heart-related illnesses.
While it beats on average 100,000 times a day, it is easy to take for granted, to forget its rhythms as it pulses blood through our veins. The beating organ of the body is, if all is well, often only remembered during three occurrences: when you’re afraid, when you’re in love and when completely out of the blue, it suddenly twinges and you panic book a GP appointment.
The heart ages just as our hair turns grey and lines begin to gather in the corners around our eyes. While lifestyle, smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise may not immediately showcase visible symptoms on your heart, it can take its toll and overtime may result in serious, worrisome conditions. On average, more than 17 million people worldwide die each year from heart-related illnesses which, shockingly, is more than the number who die from HIV, malaria, and cancer.
"The big things we worry about as cardiologists are coronary disease and heart failure," says Dr Rajani. "As the population is ageing the prevalence of these conditions are increasing."
Currently, coronary heart disease is the leading cause of heart attacks with one patient every three minutes in the UK attending hospital due to heart attacks. And, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) over half a million people in the UK are living with heart failure.
But how can you tell between something potentially life-threatening and a harmless skipped beat? Dr Rajani says that there are a set of specific symptoms relating to heart health that cardiologists are on the lookout for, with some less likely to cause harm than others.
Feeling dizzy while exercising
One of the key tests performed on patients to determine if their symptoms are related to coronary disease is to speed up the heart. "We try to increase the activity of the heart to see if it provokes chest pain or provokes abnormalities with the heart muscle," says Dr Rajani. "It’s one of the diagnostic tests that we use and when we’re asking patients do you get symptoms upon exertion that’s a surrogate measure.
"The heart could be considered as the engine to the body. So when you’re overexerting yourself you’re pushing the heart harder and faster and that can stress the circuitry of the heart, which can precipitate heart rhythm problems."
Or, blacking out…
Dr Rajani says that one red flag would be an athlete on a sports pitch suddenly passing out. "They could be playing football or rugby or badminton and suddenly they black out. That could be an indicator of a heart muscle problem or hereditary problem with the heart.
"Normally, when we exercise the blood pressure should increase," he explains. "If you exercise and you develop a dangerous heart abnormality your blood pressure may paradoxically drop and that may result in a patient blacking out."
It’s also worth noting that dizziness during exercise could be an indicator something's wrong. "When patients are exerting and they start to feel dizzy it could indicate that they have a dangerous heart problem."
Heart pain - particularly during exercise
Again, heart pain normally occurs during exercise. "It’s described as being a pressure or heaviness over the chest which can radiate either to the jaw or the shoulders or arms," says Dr Rajani. "Typically this lasts from anything from three to 15 minutes and then subsides with rest." This could be angina which, explains Dr Rajani, "is where there is an insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle as it’s trying to increase its requirements."
Lethargy or noticeable difference in your ability to exercise
Perhaps you play rugby or netball twice a week, you’ve run a couple of half marathons or you regularly enjoy walking to work. If you suddenly find yourself struggling to do sport that you once did, it might be worth checking in with your GP.
"Other cardiac symptoms experienced by people is general tiredness or lethargy, or if you’re normally a fit runner or you’re generally physically active and you notice that you’re slowing down quite dramatically, and that is not associated with any sort of weight gain or reduction," says Dr Rajani. He adds that this could be a sign that the heart pump function is starting to weaken or that you have weakening in one of your heart valves.
A fast heartbeat
An easy test of heart health is to put two fingers over your wrist and count the beats per minute. "Also, it’s good to see if it feels regular or irregular and if it’s irregular then that could be a sign that you have had a heart rhythm problem," Dr Rajani says. "If it’s 60 beats per minute then it’s likely to be normal. If it is very fast , 100 or above at rest, and it's remaining at that heart rate then there could be a problem." One is able to measure their maximal age predicted heart rate by a simple calculation 220 - ones age. The heart should not normally be able to exceed this upon exercise.
Feeling breathless
An early warning sign of heart failure can be a feeling of breathlessness. "If a patient is starting to feel breathlessness when they do things, breathless when they lie down flat or if they’re waking up in the night gasping for breath these can be signs of the weakening of their heart muscle or problems with their heart valves," says Dr Rajani.
Swollen ankles
Another example of bad circulation in the blood and therefore a potential issue with your heart is swollen ankles, also called oedema. Odema is the accumulation of fluid in the lower legs and ankles and whilst it could be caused by your kidneys or liver, it is also a sign your heart could be failing.
"If a patient is starting to notice their ankles are swelling up and they’re not going down at the end of the day, or after sleeping, and the swelling is persistent that would be a sign," says Dr Rajani.
CPR should be administered in the event of cardiac arrest
A stabbing or sharp pain
Cardiac pain is "not classically described as being a stabbing or a sharpening," says Dr Rajani. In this instance, pain may be caused by muscular problems within the chest wall or another diagnosis that isn't cardiac pain.
A TV-worthy collapse
"The usual manifestation that you see on TV with patients having chest pain and collapsing to the floor is not usually the type of symptoms people experience when they’re having angina," explains Dr Rajani.
Instead, patients often describe their pain as being similar to indigestion pain. "It could be an epigastric or an upper stomach pain which occurs upon exercise or activity."
It’s also important to note the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack. A heart attack is when one of the coronary arteries becomes blocked. According to the BHF, symptoms include pain or discomfort in the chest that doesn’t go away; it may spread to the arms, neck, jaw, back or stomach; and, as well as pain or discomfort, you may get light-headedness, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting.
With emergency administered treatment, there is just a 2–4 per cent chance of dying during a heart attack.
A sudden cardiac arrest, however, is where the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating and requires CPR or a defibrillator. Currently, the BHF reports that there are 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, with a survival rate of less than 1 in 10.
The occasional jumped beat or ‘twinge’
You’ve just sat down in front of the TV when suddenly your heart twinges, or skips a beat. This is nothing to worry about says Dr Rajani. "More often than not it’s a benign phenomenon and it occurs in most people."
The source of such twinges could simply be due to that extra cup of coffee. "If you drink a couple of cups of double espresso or some Diet Coke that could create cardiac jumps in your heart, or your heart beats a little extra beat now and again. However, those are generally considered to be of no concern."
He does mention, however, that if the twinge is causing lots of symptoms and occurring in rapid sequences when you’re doing exercise then you should contact your physician.
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