Medihub - Medical Information - Cardiology - Symptom guide for heart disease

Reviewed by Dr Kenneth Ng

Symptom Guide in Heart Diseases

What are symptoms?

Symptoms occur when your body changes in response to an illness or disease. Doctors are trained to look out for the various signs and symptoms that appear in order to arrive at an appropriate diagnosis of your condition. Signs are the outward manifestation of a disease or problem and they can be picked up by a trained physician, although your help is necessary in communicating and providing the right descriptions of these symptoms.

Sings and Symptoms in heart and blood vessel disease

Chest pains (angina pectoris)
Swelling (edema)
Shortness of breath (dypsnea)
Fatigue and tiredness
Unconsciousness (syncope)
Light-headedness
Palpitations
Pain in limbs
Skin discolorations
Skin sores
Shock
Change in various senses- vision, strength, coordination, speech, feel

Common symptoms in heart disease

1. Chest Pains

Most common type of symptom associated with heart conditions. A wide ranging sensation from discomfort, tightening of the chest and acute pain, chest pains are usually classified under:

- Angina pectoris, which is caused by insufficient oxygen supply to the heart

- Other cardiac source of pains that may be caused by pericarditis (an inflammation of the pericardium, heart attack or aortic dissection.

- Non-cardiac sources of chest pains that may be due to a huge variety of joint, nerve, stomach or gallbladder disease.

2. Shortness of breath (dypsnea)

Dypsnea refers to the presence of an abnormal breathing which could be laboured, shallow or rapid. It could occur in tandem with angina or be the result of an underlying lung disease.

It is important to note when shortness of breath is caused by actual health problems instead of an increased amount of activity or exertion. Being overweight may also cause you to be short of breath, especially if you are exercising.

Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea is a warning sign for heart failure. This occurs when a person is awoken at night from a vertical position gasping for air. Relief is only obtained by sitting up.

3. Unconsciousness

This happens when the brain is deprived of oxygen from the heart. When the heart’s ability to pump adequate amounts of blood to facilitate the rest of the organs is compromised, syncope occurs.

The heart problems that can cause this symptom are usually due to rhythm disturbances, obstructed flow of blood, and sudden drop in blood pressure or congestive heart failure.

4. Shock

Signalling a very serious and acute circulatory problem, a person in shock may exhibit signs of hypotension (low blood pressure), confusion and sometimes unconsciousness, clammy skin, poor breathing and urinary problems.

Requiring immediate emergency support, a person in shock may be having a heart attack, trauma, haemorrhage or infection.

5. Changes in various sensations

Changes in sight, strength, coordination, speech or feels may indicate a lack of blood supply to the brain. They may be due to a presence of a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Additional symptoms may include weakness, tingling or numbness on one side of the body. Total vision loss or seeing double may occur. Speech is affected leading to slurred speech and a severe headache is also brought on.