Common Symptoms Of Heart Disease
You’ve been experiencing shortness of breath or the sensation that your heart is racing or skipping a beat. Maybe you’re having a hard time sleeping, or you’ve had one or more dizzy spells. You might even have passed out for no apparent reason. Or you experience chest pain, especially during or after exercise.
Because any one or more of these symptoms could point to heart disease, it’s important to talk with your doctor right away. Based on your symptoms, your doctor can evaluate you and determine how best to treat you.
Heart disease can take a number of different forms and can affect people differently, so it’s important to know the types of heart problems that can occur and their symptoms.
These are the most common heart problems and the symptoms people frequently experience:
If you experience any of these heart disease symptoms, make an appointment to see your doctor as soon as possible for an evaluation and treatment. The sooner a heart condition is detected and treated, the better your chances for leading a normal, healthy life.
You’re at greater risk for heart disease if you:
What Are The Symptoms
Some are easy to confuse with normal aging or other diseases. The more advanced your heart failure, the more likely you are to have many symptoms, or the changes that youâve noticed in yourself will worsen.
These are common ways that heart failure can affect you:
Shortness of breath. Heart failure can make it hard to breathe when you walk up a flight of stairs. With advanced heart failure, you may get winded in a shorter period of time, or you may have trouble even when youâre sitting still.
Sleep problems. Heart failure can make it hard to breathe or catch your breath when you lie in bed. You may have trouble nodding off to sleep, or you might wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air. Try sleeping while propped up on two or more pillows instead of lying flat. Advanced heart failure makes it even more likely youâll have trouble breathing when youâre at rest. That means your bedtime problems will probably get worse, too.
Coughing. You may already have a dry cough that acts up when youâre lying in bed. You might cough often during the day, and your phlegm could have a slight pink tint to it. That means thereâs a bit of blood in the gunk youâre coughing up. Advanced heart failure can make that cough worse, especially when youâre lying down.
Fatigue. Heart failure can make you feel worn out. Things that wouldnât have tired you out in the past suddenly do. Youâre more likely to feel tired all of the time with advanced heart failure.
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How To Improve Circulation On Your Own
In many cases, poor circulation is fairly easy to treat and resolve just by tweaking your daily routine. In more extreme cases, a doctor may have to prescribe medication that can improve the symptoms of poor circulation and prevent the buildup of life-threatening blood clots.
Be sure to speak to your doctor or cardiologist before making any lifestyle changes to ensure youre doing the best for your body. Your doctor may suggest you:
- Exercise: Exercising is a great way to quickly improve blood circulation, particularly in your legs and lower body. One of the best exercises for poor circulation is simply walking, which can help promote the formation of new blood vessels in the legs, increasing blood flow. Walking can also help to improve cardiovascular health by increasing the heart rate without requiring demanding or strenuous effort.
- Hydrate: When the body is dehydrated, your blood retains sodium, which thickens it and makes it harder for it to be circulated throughout your body. Try to drink between 11 and 16 cups of water per day to adequately keep the body hydrated and blood properly circulating.
- Watch your diet: Eating healthy is crucial to improving blood flow and circulation throughout your body. Consider implementing heart-healthy foods such as leafy green vegetables, whole grains and fatty fish into your daily diet.
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Cold Weather Precautions For People With Heart Disease
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
If you have heart disease, staying healthy during cold weather presents special challenges.
For those with coronary artery disease , cold temperatures can trigger episodes of cardiac ischemia . This can cause episodes of angina, when the heart doesn’t receive enough blood flow, or even heart attacks.
For people who have heart failure, a rapid drop in environmental temperature can cause a sudden worsening of symptoms. It can also lead to an increased risk of hospitalization and even an increased risk of death.
That means when you have heart disease, the onset of cold temperatures requires special precautions. Fortunately, these precautions generally fall into the category of common sense.
This article discusses how cold temperatures affect your heart. It also lists five precautions to take in the cold weather when you have heart disease.
Initial Stages Of Chf
In the initial, mild stage A, there are underlying high-risk factors for CHF such as smoking or high blood pressure. However, the affected person has no symptoms or limitations at rest or with physical activity and there are no signs of CHF on evaluation by a doctor.
In stage B, the person develops mild symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath, or heart palpitations with routine physical activity. There are minor signs of heart dysfunction on a doctor’s evaluation. There might also be a mild, intermittent collection of fluid, known as edema, in the ankles and feet.
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Contact Sonas For Home Health Care Services
If your family member has recently been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, now may be the ideal time to consider home health care. A home care service provider can be with your loved one on a customized schedule that is right for your family.
This means that even if you are not able to be with them, you can be confident in knowing they are getting everything they need to stay healthy, safe, and comfortable, as well as maintain as much independence and control as possible.
If you or an aging loved one are considering home health care services in Florida, contact the caring staff at Sonas Home Health Care. Call today .
Research Gaps And Conclusions
The separate effects of cold exposure and exercise on cardiovascular responses in healthy persons are well known. Less is known of how a cardiovascular disease alters these responses. This information enables understanding the pathophysiological responses that may contribute to the globally demonstrated higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality of a specific climate.
This line of research is particularly important as global populations are undergoing a major epidemiological transition in which cardiovascular diseases are estimated to increase in prevalence , have been recognized as being climate sensitive, and especially among the elderly population . In addition, climate change is thought to bring about not only global warming, but possibly also a higher amount of extreme weather events which may complicate preparedness of individuals. The expected higher share of non-optimal temperatures, and that of cold outweighing the health effects heat , provides further justification to pursue examining susceptible populations.
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Heart Failure Signs And Symptoms
By themselves, any one sign of heart failure may not be cause for alarm. But if you have more than one of these symptoms, even if you haven’t been diagnosed with any heart problems, report them to a healthcare professional and ask for an evaluation of your heart. Congestive heart failure is a type of heart failure which requires seeking timely medical attention, although sometimes the two terms are used interchangeably.
This table lists the most common signs and symptoms, explains why they occur and describes how to recognize them.
Cold Weather Precautions For Heart Disease
Everyone needs to take precautions when they are in a cold environment. However, precautions are especially important if you have a heart problem. Follow these five tips to stay healthy in the cold weather:
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Why Might Heart Failure Cause Cold Legs
Its very logical: The body knows that not enough blood is circulating due to the impaired pumping system of the heart.
Hence, blood circulation is more concentrated to vital organs including the brain. This means less for the extremities: legs and feet. Less blood = more likelihood of a cold feeling.
A young and active, nonsmoking, non-overweight person with new-onset cold legs is not likely to have chronic or congestive heart failure.
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What To Expect At Home
When you have heart failure, your heart does not pump out enough blood. This causes fluids to build up in your body. If you drink too many fluids, you may get symptoms such as swelling, weight gain, and shortness of breath. Limiting how much you drink and how much salt you take in can help prevent these symptoms.
Your family members can help you take care of yourself. They can keep an eye on how much you drink. They can make sure you are taking your medicines the right way. And they can learn to recognize your symptoms early.
Your health care provider may ask you to lower the amount of fluids you drink:
- When your heart failure is not very bad, you may not have to limit your fluids too much.
- As your heart failure gets worse, you may need to limit fluids to 6 to 9 cups a day.
Coping With The Cold Weather
At wintertime, cold weather can have an effect on our body and people with heart conditions can sometimes notice that the colder weather has an effect on how they are feeling. Cold weather makes your heart work harder to keep your body warm, so as a result your heart rate and blood pressure may increase. These changes can sometimes make your heart-related symptoms worse and can sometimes affect how heart copes with everyday things.
It is important therefore for anyone with a heart condition to stay warm and well hydrated during the winter and protect yourself against the cold weather.
Cold temperatures can cause blood vessels and arteries to constrict. This makes the heart work harder to pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. This constriction may cause chest pain and in some people an increase in blood pressure.
If you have a heart condition it is important to listen to your body and to contact your GP or out of hours service if you need advice. If you are unwell and concerned you would be advised to contact 999 in an emergency.
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Other Symptoms Of Fluid Buildup
Excess fluid also can seep through blood vessel walls into other tissues. This may cause swelling in the legs and ankles or abdomen.
Sometimes fluid accumulates in tissues throughout the body. This may be more difficult to spot. However, patients may experience a rapid weight gain of several pounds in a day or two.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
It’s sometimes called emphysema or chronic bronchitis, and it can make you short of breath. Smoking causes this disease most of the time.
When you have COPD, the airways in your lungs get inflamed and thicken, which means less oxygen comes in and less carbon dioxide goes out. Over time, the shortness of breath gets worse.
Your doctor can give you medication to help you manage the symptoms. If the problems get worse, you may need to use an oxygen tank to help with your breathing trouble.
The best thing you can do for your lungs is to quit smoking. Learn more about the symptoms and causes of COPD.
Most of the time it’s caused by smoking. Your symptoms may include:
Get more details about lung cancer symptoms.
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What Should The Caregiver Remember When The Patient Is At The End
Various important decisions of the patients life have to be taken by the caregivers surrounding the patient. Great responsibilities come up on the caregiver as the patient gradually becomes completely dependent. The caregiver should always be on his toes because there can arise an emergency at any point of time. The patient may have to be admitted to the hospital frequently during the last stage. Symptoms can worsen overnight and the caregivers should be prepared for it.
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Signs Of Worsening Heart Failure
While some signs and symptoms of heart failure may not be an emergency, they can worsen if you do not take action immediately. If you have any of the following symptoms, call your doctor or healthcare provider and let them know:
- Shortness of breath
- Weight gain of three or more pounds in one day
- Weight gain of five pounds in one week
- Unusual swelling in the legs, feet, hands, or abdomen
- A persistent cough or chest congestion
- Increasing fatigue or a sudden decrease in your ability to do normal activities
- A loss of appetite or nausea
- A feeling of fullness or bloating in your stomach
- Confusion or restlessness
These symptoms may be early signs that fluid is building up and your heart failure is getting worse. If you have these symptoms, let your doctor or nurse know as quickly as possible. Be careful about showering or getting into hot water, which may result in dizziness and lightheadedness as a result of lowered blood pressure. When bathing or showering, try lukewarm water instead. Make sure the water is not more warm than your body temperature.
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The Earliest Symptoms Of Heart Failure Are Often Very Subtle But It’s Dangerous To Ignore Them
It’s an unfortunate truth that your body slows down in your sixth and seventh decades. Climbing a flight of stairs that you once took two at a time can now feel as daunting as scaling Mount Everest. While some degree of vitality loss can be attributed to natural aging, fatigue and breathlessness may also be signals that your heart is not functioning as well as it should. “There is a general tendency for people to ignore heart failure symptoms and attribute them to just getting older. Therefore, it was very important for us to create an easy way to identify those symptoms,” says Dr. Mandeep R. Mehra, medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Common Symptoms Of Poor Circulation
Have you ever woken up from a nap or stood up after a long car ride to the feeling that your leg has fallen asleep? At its core, this is the most basic symptom of poor circulation. While the symptoms of poor circulation are not always apparent, when there are warning signs of bad blood flow, it is usually fairly easy to tell what they are. Here are four of the most common symptoms of when your body is feeling poor circulation and blood flow:
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