Knowledge is power, be informed and understand what to look out for to prevent a life-threatening situation. Heart disease is reversible, the earlier you diagnose it, the quicker you can make life-changing decisions. Here are some early warning signs.
Warning Sign 1–Irregular and rapid heartbeats. This can occur sometimes weeks and months in advance of a severe heart attack.
What does it feel like?
As if you just ran a sprint or as if you got startled by someone. Sometimes the symptoms can be confused with a panic attack.
How to tell the difference?
If there is no sudden cause for the symptoms to occur and it lasts for more than a couple minutes and as the symptoms persist you get a sense of weakness, nausea or dizziness its time to see the doctor. If you are over 45 years of age and have a lifestyle that predisposes you to heart disease it’s safe to get yourself checked regularly. A doctor may recommend an angiography which is a method to check blockages in your artery.
Warning Sign 2 – Ongoing nausea and cramping in the stomach.
What does it feel like?
It feels a lot like heartburn. A lot of people recognize chest pains as a sign of an impending heart attack but often times the pain actually happens in the stomach and is mistaken for indigestion.
How can you tell the difference?
Heartburn is usually one long episode that goes away with antacids or nausea medicine. If the pain gets worse after physical exertion and the symptoms come and go, the real reason might not be indigestion but rather angina. Angina is caused by constricting of arteries that supply blood to the heart. Severe blockages occur when fatty deposits build up in the artery and an angioplasty or a heart bypass surgery is required to alleviate the condition.
Warning Sign 3 – Prolonged feelings of being worn out.
What does it feel like?
Extended periods of extreme tiredness can be a sign of heart trouble. If you feel abnormally fatigued for an extended period of time with no other associated symptoms, it’s important to get checked by a heart specialist.
How can you tell the difference?
Is the fatigue unexplained? Does it happen all of a sudden and persist for long periods of time? Is it debilitating in nature? Did you wake up full of energy and have progressively, very quickly before midday already feel exhausted? These all could be signs that you need medical attention.
Warning Sign 4 – Unexplained anger, anxiety or inability to sleep at night.
What does it feel like?
Repeated anxiety attacks for no apparent reason. Inability to sleep at night or restless sleep with waking up in the middle of the night.
How to tell the difference?
Are the feelings of anxiety, agitation or insomnia new and unexplained? If you have never had these symptoms before, they could be reason to see a medical doctor. Many patients of a heart attack report these events happening months before an actual heart attack. The reason can be that this disease can trigger a change in oxygen levels that lead to these symptoms.
Warning Sign 5– Shortness of breath
What does it feel like?
Like you cannot take a deep breath. Often times, elderly patients confuse this with lung disease or asthma.
How to tell the difference?
If your shortness of breath is combined with light -headed-ness it could be a sign of trouble. Many patients suffer from shortness of breath months before the heart attack and disregard it to other breathing problems. If you can’t take a deep breath, the shortness of breath is unexplained or exaggerated for an activity you were comfortable doing previously, get checked.
If you are suffering from any of these above symptoms and feel you might be at risk, it is imperative that you get help immediately. If you are suffering from angina or have been diagnosed with heart disease with blockages in your arteries rest assured you have plenty of resources. You can go to www.healthgrades.com if you are in the United States and insured to check out the proficiency of different cardiologists and hospitals. Alternatively, if you are outside of the USA or uninsured, there’s a great new site Doctors Beyond Borders that compares the price at different international hospitals and even gives you a free initial quote or second opinion from JCI (USA) accredited International hospitals.
The great news is that regardless of your condition, remember heart disease is reversible; you can start the recovery today. Eat right, exercise regularly and stay in regular touch with your doctor. Until next time, wishing you a happy healthy day.
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