6 Signs Of Heart Problems That Have Nothing To Do With Chest Pain

Although chest ache is the symptom mostly related to cardiovascular points, there are a number of atypical signs that will point out one thing is improper with the guts.

Hypertension, blood clots, arrhythmias and valve points can set off lightheadedness, dizziness, shortness of breath and jaw ache. As a result of these signs aren’t so clearly linked to the guts — and are related to different well being circumstances — they typically go dismissed, inflicting individuals to delay pressing, life-saving care.

“The widespread factor we’re involved about is chest discomfort, however the reality is that cardiovascular points can really be signaled by different signs,” Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, a board-certified heart specialist at Windfall Saint John’s Well being Middle in Santa Monica, California, instructed HuffPost.

Listed here are a couple of signs that will sign a coronary heart drawback:

Ache within the calves or decrease legs — particularly when it’s accompanied by swelling — may very well be as a consequence of a blood clot within the deep veins of the physique, in response to Tadwalkar. Leg swelling may also happen if the guts has points pumping blood all through the physique, inflicting reduced blood flow to the legs.

“Ache within the legs, though it looks as if it’s so removed from the guts, might, in actual fact, sign that there’s one thing taking place with the cardiovascular system,” Tadwalkar stated.

Dr. Joyce Oen-Hsiao, a heart specialist and affiliate professor of medical drugs at Yale Faculty of Drugs in Connecticut, has handled many sufferers who current with dizziness and lightheadedness. But it surely typically takes a little bit of detective work to find out what, precisely, is inflicting these signs.

Abnormalities in blood stress — together with blood stress that’s both too excessive or too low — may cause dizziness. Some individuals will expertise coronary heart palpitations, or additional heartbeats, that may set off lightheadedness, Oen-Hsiao stated.

Although many arrhythmias are benign and triggered by elements like caffeine or menopause, some irregular heartbeats — together with people who happen on the backside of the guts chamber — generally is a signal of coronary heart illness or a blockage within the coronary heart arteries, in response to Oen-Hsiao.

A extreme headache could also be a marker that one thing’s amiss with the guts. A frontal headache with ache that shoots throughout the brow and behind the eyes can point out that an individual has hypertension, in response to Oen-Hsiao.

“Some individuals don’t really feel their blood stress, however at one level, it will get slightly an excessive amount of blood stress for his or her mind to deal with after which they’ll get that frontal headache and ache behind the eyes,” Oen-Hsiao stated.

Hypertension leading to a headache might be pressing challenge, Tadwalkar stated. If the stress is excessive sufficient and sustained for lengthy sufficient, it may result in bursting of the blood vessels.

“It’s useful to be plugged in with a doctor, since you’d wish to know in case your blood stress is trending excessive in order that method it may be addressed earlier than one thing like this might occur,” Tadwalkar stated.

Shortness of breath is a symptom related to many coronary heart circumstances.

“There are such a lot of circumstances that we consider and deal with which have shortness of breath as a major attribute, that from our perspective — as cardiologists — it’s a fairly non-specific symptom, but it surely is a crucial one,” Tadwalkar stated.

Shortness of breath, particularly with exertion, generally is a signal that an individual has hypertension. Oen-Hsiao stated she sees many older ladies who expertise shortness of breath after they train.

“As quickly as they begin exercising, their blood stress jumps from regular baseline to essentially excessive” they usually develop breathlessness, Oen-Hsiao stated.

Sudden shortness of breath that worsens with exertion is also an indication of a clot within the lungs. There could also be a problem with one of many heart valves, coronary heart rhythm disturbances and even heart failure. If the shortness of breath is sudden and extreme or if it’s progressively getting worse, you’ll wish to get checked out by a coronary heart physician, Tadwalkar stated.

Nausea and a lack of urge for food might be indicators of coronary heart failure. When the guts begins to fail, fluid can accumulate within the legs and stomach. When the intestine fills with fluid, it doesn’t take in vitamins as properly, inflicting individuals to lose their urge for food and really feel full all the time, Oen-Hsiao stated.

Often, nausea and upset abdomen are the one signs that sufferers with a blockage within the again artery of the guts will really feel.

“Lots of sufferers who’ve a coronary heart assault with the artery within the again a part of the guts, they really received’t have chest ache or shortness of breath, they’ll simply get actually nauseous and really feel sick to their abdomen,” Oen-Hsiao stated.

Some individuals with cardiovascular points will expertise jaw ache and heaviness that radiates up the neck, into the jaw and down into the left arm. That is extra widespread when sufferers are exerting themselves.

Oen-Hsiao stated these signs generally is a signal of a coronary heart assault, however they might even be an indication of angina (vital blockages). Individuals experiencing neck and jaw ache ought to instantly be evaluated by a health care provider.

“The constellation of jaw discomfort and nausea — particularly with ill-defined chest discomfort — though it could not appear initially cardiac in nature, could be one thing that ought to deliver any person to an emergency division extra urgently,” Tadwalkar stated.