Heart Disease-The symptoms of heart disease

Definition

Heart disease describes a range of various conditions that affect your heart. Diseases under the heart  disease umbrella include blood vessel diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart rhythm problems (arrhythmia's) and heart defects you're born with (congenial heart defects), among others.

The term "Heart Disease" is often used to interchangeably with the term "cardiovascular disease". Cardiovascular diseases generally refers to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can make a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Other heart conditions, such as those that affect your heart muscle, your valves or rhythm, also are considered forms of heart disease.

Many forms of heart disease can be prevented or treated with healthy lifestyle choices.

Symptoms

Heart disease symptoms depend on what type of heart disease you have. The types of different heart diseases are:

Heart diseases symptoms caused by blood vessels (artherosclerotic disease)

Cardiovascular diseases caused by narrowed blocked or stiffened blood vessels that prevent your heart, brain or other parts of your body from receiving enough food. Cardiovascular disease symptoms may be different for men and women. For instance, men are more likely to have chest pain, women are more likely to have sympyomps such as shortness of breath, nausea and extreme fatique.

Symptoms can include:

• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Pain, numbness or coldness in your legs or arms of the blood vessels in those parts of your body are narrowed
• Pain in the neck, jaw, throat, upper abdomen or back

Heart Disease Symptoms caused by abnormal heartbeats (heart arrhythmias)

A heart arrhythmia is an abnormal heartbeat. Your heart may beat too quickly, too slowly or irregularly. Heart arrhythmia symptoms can include:

• Fluttering in your chest
• Racing heartbeat (tachycardia)
• Slow heartbeat (bradycardia)
• Lightheadedness
• Dizziness
• Fainting (syncope) or near fainting

Heart disease symptoms caused by heart defects (both in child and adult)

Serious congenital heart defects you're born with usually become evident soon after birth. Heart defect symptoms in children could include:

• Pale gray or blue skin colour
•  Swelling in the legs, abdomen or areas around the eyes
• In the infant, shortness of breath during feeding, leading poor weight gain

Less serious congenital heart defects are often not diagnosed until later in childhood or during adulthood. Signs and symptoms of congenital heart defects that usually aren't immediately life threatening include:

• Easily getting short of breath during exercise or activity
• Easily tiring during exercise or activity
• Swelling in the hands, ankles or feet

Heart diseases symptoms caused by weak heart muscle (dilated cardiomyopathy)

Cadiomyopathy is the thickening and stiffening of heart muscle. In early stages of cardiomyopathy, you may have no symptoms. As the condition worsens, symptoms may include:

• Breathlessness with exertion or at rest
• Swelling of legs, ankles and feet
• Fatigue
• Irregular heartbeats that feel rapid, pounding or fluttering
• Dizziness, lightheadedness and fainting

Heart disease symptoms caused by heart infections

There three types of heart infections:

• Pericarditis, which affects the tissue surrounding the heart (pericardium)
• Myocarditis, which affects the muscular middle layers of the walls of the heart (myocardium)
• Endocarditis, which affects the inner membrane that separates the chambers and valves of the heart (endocardium)

Varying slightly with each type of infection symptoms can include:

• Fever
• Shortness of breath
• Swelling in your legs or abdomen
• Changes in your heart rhythm
• Dry or persistent caugh
• Skin rashes or unusual spots

Heart disease symptoms caused by valvular heart disease

The heart has four valves - the aortic, mitral, pulmonary and tricuspid valves- that open and close to direct blood flow through your heart, valves may be damaged by a variety of conditions leading to narrowing, leaking or improper closing.

Depending on which valve isn't working properly, valvular heart disease sympyoms generally include:

• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Irregular heartbeat
• Swallen feet or ankles
• Chest pain
• Fainting

When to see a doctor

Seek emergency medical care if you have these heart disease symptoms:

• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Fainting

Heart disease is easier to treat when detected early, so talk to your doctor about your concerns about your heart health. If you're concerned about developing heart disease, talk to your doctors about steps you can take to reduce your heart disease risk. This is specially important if you have a family history of heart disease.

If you think you may have heart disease, based on new signs and symptoms you are having make an appointment to see your doctor.