The five overlooked signs something could be wrong with your heart – as Max George faces surgery
WHEN it comes to symptoms of heart issues, chest pain is the first one many of us will think of – but it doesn’t always occur in people with heart disease.
Here were reveal five overlooked symptoms that may signal trouble with your ticker – after The Wanted’s Max George faces surgery for “issues with [his] heart“.
The singer, 36, revealed he’d been rushed to hospital after feeling “really unwell”.
Tests revealed Max was suffering from heart trouble, which he said was a “huge shock”.
“I have a lot more tests to determine the extent of the problems and what surgery I will need to get me back on my feet,” Max revealed in a post uploaded to his Instagram yesterday.
The singer now expects to spend Christmas “in a hospital bed”.
But despite the “setback”, he counts himself “very lucky that this was caught when it was”.
It comes just two years after his Wanted bandmate Tom Parker died of brain cancer, aged just 33.
While chest pain is an obvious symptom of heart trouble, aches and pains can also manifest in you shoulders, arms or even your jaw.
Symptoms of heart disease may even crop up in your feet, according to Dr Randall Zusman, a cardiologist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Writing for Harvard Health, he said: “Any symptom that seems to be provoked by exertion and relieved by rest could be heart-related.
“Particularly in people with underlying risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, tobacco use, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and a strong family history of heart disease, other symptoms besides chest pain may be the clue to a heart problem.”
Here are five unexpected heart-related symptoms to speak to your doctor about if you experience them.
1. Fatigue
Feeling tired isn’t something that should ring alarm bells immediately.
It can be explained away to sleeplessness, certain medications and even some other illnesses.
But a constant, new fatigue also can sometimes signal heart failure – when the heart is unable to pump blood around the heart properly – or coronary artery disease, when the walls of your arteries can become furred up with fatty deposits, blocking your heart’s supply of blood.
“It’s less common as an indication of coronary artery disease, but it can be,” Dr Zusman said.
2. Unexplained aches and pains
Strange aches an pain that don’t necessarily occur in your chest could be another sign of heart issues.
According to Dr Zusman, the blockage of the blood supply to the heart from coronary artery disease leads it to “cry out in pain”, as it’s having to work harder.
These pain signals can crop up in the shoulders, arms, back, jaw, or abdomen.
If you’re getting pain in these areas during exercise but it fades with rest, this could be a sign of heart disease.
Common heart conditions
Here are some of the most common heart and cardiovascular conditions:
- Arrhythmia – when the heart beats irregularly. There are many types of this condition, with atrial fibrillation being the most common one
- Atherosclerosis – where the arteries become narrowed from fatty deposits in the arteries, making it difficult for blood to flow through them
- Cardiac arrest – when the heart suddenly stops beating
- Congenital heart disease – problems with the heart’s structure that are present from birth
- Coronary heart disease – when the major blood vessels to the heart called the coronary arteries become blocked and narrowed, restricting the flow of blood to the heart
- Heart attack – when oxygen supply to the heart is blocked due to a clogged artery
- Heart failure – when the heart struggles to pump blood and oxygen around the body
- High blood pressure – when the force of the blood against the artery walls is higher than normal, putting strain on the arteries and the heart
- Stroke – when blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off due to a clot or rupture of an artery
Source: Heart Research Institute UK
3. Shortness of breath
If we’ve neglecting going to the gym, it’s not uncommon to get winded from doing physical activity.
But your huffing and puffing might not simply be caused by being out of shape.
If you’re getting short of breath from small bits of activity, this should ring some alarm bells, according to Dr Zusman.
He explained: “If you climb up five flights of stairs, I expect you to be short of breath.
“But if you go up 10 stairs and you’re short of breath, that may indicate a heart problem.”
4. Swollen feet and ankles
Are you waking up with swelling in your legs, ankles or feet?
This is caused by a buildup of fluid called oedema and it could be a sign of heart failure.
If the pressing a finger into the swollen areas leaves an indentation, then this is a sign of oedema.
The symptom can also be caused by other conditions, like kidney or liver disease, venous insufficiency – weak leg veins – or be a side effect of some drugs.
5. Heart palpitations
When heart palpitations occur, you might become more aware of your heartbeat and feel it in your chest, neck or throat.
It may feel like it’s racing, pounding or fluttering.
Skipped or extra beats are also a sign of palpitations.
They can last seconds, minutes or longer.
Strenuous exercise, lack of sleep, stress and alcohol, caffeine and nicotine can all have this effect.
But sometimes palpitations can indicate a heart problem.
It’s important to note how your palpitations feel, how often they happen, and what you’re doing when you experience them.
For example, if you’re resting watching TV and your heart suddenly starts beating irregularly or quickly, this could give you cause for concern.
Subtle signs of a heart attack
A HEART attack is when the supply of the blood to the heart is suddenly blocked.
It is a medical emergency and needs to be treated right away.
Around 100,000 people are admitted to hospital due to heart attacks every year in the UK, according to the British Heart Foundation.
That’s 290 each day, or one every five minutes.
Some symptoms, like chest pain, shortness of breath and feeling lightheaded or dizzy, can be fairly obvious.
But the signs aren’t always so blatant, the NHS warns. Other more subtle symptoms of a heart attack include:
- Pain in other parts of the body (it can feel as if the pain is spreading from your chest to your arms, jaw, neck, back and stomach)
- Sweating
- Feeling sick
- Vomiting
- An overwhelming feeling of anxiety (similar to a panic attack)
- Weakness or fatigue
- Coughing
- Wheezing
A heart attack and cardiac arrest are similar, but not the same.
A cardiac arrest is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body.