HEART disease is one of the UK’s biggest killers — but many of its symptoms can be missed....CONTINUE READING
Around 7.6million Brits live with the condition, with 160,000 dying every year.
Getty – ContributorHeart disease is one of the UK’s biggest killers — but many of its symptoms can be missed[/caption]
There are four main types of heart disease: coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease and aortic disease.
The first involves the blood supply to the heart being blocked, usually by a buildup of fatty cholesterol
in the arteries, which can lead to a heart attack.
Strokes are caused by similar blockages cutting off oxygen supply to the brain.
Peripheral arterial disease involves similar clots occuring in your legs, and can cause a cramp-like pain or dullness.
Meanwhile, aortic disease involves the wall of the aorta — the largest blood vessel in the body which carries blood from the heart
to the rest of the body — becoming weakened and bulging outwards.
It causes pain in your chest, as well as in you back or tummy in some cases.
Professor Elijah Behr, a consultant cardiologist at Mayo Clinic and St George’s Hospital
in London
, said there can be “serious red flags” to look out for with heart diseases.
He said: “For some people, they may have risk that heart disease is developing but won’t necessarily have any symptoms that highlight it.
“But there are symptoms that can raise concern, particularly of coronary artery disease, which is firming of the arteries and is one of the most common causes of heart disease.”
Panting or weezing are other signs you could be suffering with heart disease.
Feeling short of breath could indicate you have heart failure
— which is often caused by coronary heart disease — an abnormal heart rhythm, or could be about to have a heart attack.
Professor Behr said: “Chest pain or breathlessness
on exertion can be a signed of coronary artery disease.
“The symptoms of heart failure are breathlessness on exertion, but also breathlessness at rest for some people that might be quite badly affected.
“For some people, they can feel breathless just lying flat in bed or need pillows to help sit them up — that can be a sign that heart failure is developing.”
Swelling your lower legs
can also be a sign of heart failure, as well as poor circulation in your legs.
It could indicate there is a clot in your leg that is blocking blood returning to your heart.
Professor Behr said: “Swelling in the ankles or the abdomen, these are potential signs of heart failure developing.”
Feeling your heart flutter could also be a sign of heart disease.
Professor Behr said: “Another symptom that might highlight that there is underlying heart disease is symptoms related to rhythm disturbances of the heart.
“They can sometimes cause sensation of palpitation, the heart rhythm being disturbed in some way.
“That might be the heart rhythm racing away or being erratic, or both.”
If your heart isn’t pumping enough blood to the brain it can cause lightheadedness and dizzy spells.
This could be a result of heart failure, an abnormal heart rhythm or a lesser known sign of heart attack.
Professor Behr said: “If rhythm disturbances are severe, they may make people feel dizzy or lose consciousness.
”Those are also important symptoms to be aware of — abrupt loss of consciousness, palpitations causing dizziness, can be serious red flags as well.”
Poor circulation can cause parts of your skin to turn blue or grey, particularly in your fingers and toes.
This could indicate narrowed or blocked blood vessels.
Professor Behr said: “It depends on if there is associated disease with the blood vessels supplying the skin, which could point towards coronary artery disease.”
He continued: ”If you have heart failure there can be congestion of the tissues caused by the back up of blood and fluid in the heart and in the body.
“That congestion of tissues can back up into the body in general, which is what causes swelling, affecting the skin as well.
“The skin may develop changes in its colour or texture — but this is usually at a relatively late stage of heart failure, rather than an earlier stage.”
Men who struggle with performance in bed may also be at risk of heart disease.
Problems with achieving an erection could indicate the blood supply to your *** is not strong, indicating problems with the arteries.
Professor Behr said: “ Erectile dysfunction is quite common. It can be a sign of having problems in the arteries supplying that part of the anatomy.
”It can also be associated with conditions like diabetes
, so it may be a sign, but again it is often an advanced sign.
Heart failure can make you feel excessively tired because the organ no longer pumps enough blood around the body.
Professor Behr said: “Fatigue would probably fit in more with the heart failure symptoms.”
Gum disease
has been linked to heart disease in a number of studies.
Some experts believe the bacteria
in your mouth can get into your bloodstream, causing inflammation in the heart.
Having gum disease can also increase your chances of stroke, research has shown
Little dots of blood trapped under your fingernails could be a sign of endocarditis.
This is an infection in the lining of your heart valves, most commonly caused by bacteria entering the blood and travelling to the heart.
The symptom could also indicate diabetes, which increases your risk of heart disease of stroke by up to four times.
Diabetes can also cause dark, velvety patches in areas where skin folds and creases, like the neck, armpits and groin.
These are called acanthosis nigricans.
The patches can have skin tags too, and are a sign your body is struggling to produce insulin.
How hard you can grip could also indicate how strong your heart is, according to research.
Studies have shown being able to squeeze something well indicates you have a lower risk of heart disease.
However, improving grip strength alone will not reduce your chances of the condition.
Sleep
apnoea can put you at risk of high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, strokes, and heart failure.
If your snoring is broken up by pauses in your breathing, it can reduce the amount of oxygen going to the brain.
This causes the brain to send signals that make the heart work harder to push blood around, increasing the risks of these.
