Symptoms of Heart Disease

If you are looking for symptoms of heart disease, first you have to clearly understand that there are several types of heart disease which each type may has different signs or symptoms. -- Read also causes of heart disease and how to prevent it!

Generally, some types of heart disease include; pericarditis, congenital heart disease, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, MI (Myocardial Infarction), cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), congenital heart disease, heart valve disease, arrhythmia, and coronary artery disease.

The symptoms or signs in people with heart disease are closely dependent on the type & severity of their heart condition. However, talk with your doctor for more detailed information and clearly diagnosis with prompt treatment. You need to contact your doctor immediately (particularly if you begin to feel and have new signs or if these signs become more severe or frequent)!

Pericarditis symptoms

Like mentioned before, one of heart disease types is pericarditis. And below are several common symptoms of this type that you may experience if you have pericarditis:

1. The heart rate increases.
2. Fever (low grade).
3. And you may experience ‘chest pain’. It could be sharp and may be located in the center or middle of the chest. Even the pain may also radiate to back, arms and neck! This pain may make you feel uncomfortable when you are coughing, taking a deep breath, and lying down.

Congenital heart disease symptoms

The diagnosis of congenital heart defects may be done when ‘not until adulthood’, childhood, after birth, or before birth! In a few cases, the worst condition when you have this disease but you don’t have or feel any symptoms.

In children, if the signs are present --> they may include:

1. Difficulty to follow or do exercise.
2. Difficulty to gain the weight.
3. A bluish tint to the lips, skin, and fingernails.
4. Lung infection (typically recurrent lung infection).
5. Poor feeding & fast breathing.

In adults, the symptoms may include; limited access or ability to do exercise, problems when breathing (particularly shortness of breath), and the symptoms of valve disease (see below) and heart failure (see below /keep your reading).

Symptoms or signs of heart valve disease

Heart valve disease symptoms may include:

1. Syncope (fainting).
2. Something wrong in the chest, in other words you may feel discomfort in your chest (like a weight or pressure in your chest, particularly when you are doing a certain activity and going out in cold air).
3. When doing your daily activities, you get a shortness of breath.
4. You feel a rapid heart rate, skipped beats, irregular heartbeat, or a flop-flip feeling in the chest. These conditions are also familiar known as ‘palpitations’.
5. Dizziness or weakness.

And if a valve disease causes heart failure, the signs may include: fainting, swelling (particularly in the feet and ankles, or sometimes it also can occur in the belly that can lead to bloated feeling), and quickly weight gain.

These signs are not always associated to the seriousness of valve disease. You may also feel nothing (‘no any symptoms’) but you have severe heart valve disease. Or on the other hand you may get more severe symptoms, but the test result shows only minor heart valve disease.

Heart failure symptoms

The common symptoms of this type include:

1. Irregular or rapid heartbeats.
2. You feel dizzy without a clearly reason.
3. You may also experience a quickly weight gain (you may get 2-3 pounds of weight gain /day).
4. At rest (particularly when you are lying down flat in your bed) or during certain activities you feel shortness of breath.
5. Weakness & fatigue.
6. You may also get swelling in the abdomen, legs, & ankles!
7. Cough following white mucus.
8. And for other signs include chest pain, nausea, and palpitations!

Heart failure symptoms are also not always related to the weakness of the heart (similar like in heart valve disease). You may have mildly weakened of heart function, but you experience a lot of symptoms. On the other hand you may have a serious damaged heart, but there is no any symptom that you feel or you only have little symptoms!

Arrhythmia symptoms

When the signs of arrhythmia are present, they may include: fatigue or weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations, discomfort or pain chest (or pounding in the chest), and fainting.

Coronary artery disease symptoms

For this type, the common symptoms may include: sweating, dizziness or weakness, palpitations, nausea, increased heart beat, and shortness of breath!  But angina is usually the most common symptom or sign in coronary artery disease. It is usually painful, fullness, aching, heaviness, squeezing, burning, pressure, or discomfort feeling in the chest. It also can be felt in the back, throat, arms, jaw, neck, or shoulders.

Symptoms of cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease)

In many cases, there are only minor symptoms or even ‘no any symptoms’ in heart muscle disease. Therefore, people with cardiomyopathy are more likely to live a normal life. But the worst thing is (in a small number of people who have heart muscle disease) cardiomyopathy can lead to sudden death without following clearly symptoms before.

And if the symptoms are present, they may include: palpitations, fatigue, signs in heart failure (see above), fainting, and swelling of the lower extremities. Another symptom may be a chest pressure or pain which usually occurs when doing a certain physical activity, after meals, or at rest.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) symptoms

It is a kind of arrhythmia. And in people who have this heart disease may have one or multiple of the following signs:

1. Difficult to breath, particularly when doing a certain daily activity.
2. Light headed or feeling faint!
3. People with atrial fibrillation may also experience a sudden pounding, racing, or fluttering feeling in their heart.
4. Discomfort problems in the chest, like pressure and pain.
5. And easy to get tired (lack of energy)!

Signs of MI or ‘Myocardial Infarction’ (heart attack)!

Heart attack symptoms may include: irregular or rapid heart-beats, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, discomfort radiating (particularly to the arm, jaw, throat, or back), extreme-anxiety, extremely weakness, extremely shortness of breath, fullness feeling, and discomfort feelings in the chest (including pain, heaviness, or pressure in the chest)!

Symptoms or signs during heart attack that typically last thirty minutes or longer cannot be relieved by oral medications or rest! Initial signs can begin as mild discomforts, and then will progress to significant pains.

Even there are no any symptoms in people with heart attack, this condition familiar known as a silent MI, which usually relatively more common in people with heart disease and diabetes!

Once you feel a heart attack, call 911 (emergency help) immediately! In heart attack, quick treatment is so important (particularly for lessening the amount of damage of the heart)!

The last, talk with your doctor to get a clearly diagnosis and more detailed information about any symptoms of heart disease! If you have a diagnosis of this disease, keep contact with your doctor and always follow completely all instructions from your doctor!

_________
Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration
Reference: WebMD