Your heart is a powerful muscle that works around the clock. It pumps oxygen-rich blood through your body so your brain, kidneys, muscles and other organs can keep working normally.
Heart problems do not always begin with a sudden, dramatic heart attack. Some conditions develop slowly, and the first warning signs can be easy to dismiss as stress, poor sleep, getting older or simply being out of shape.
One important warning sign is chest discomfort. Heart-related chest pain may feel like pressure, squeezing, heaviness, burning or tightness rather than a sharp pain, and it can happen when the heart muscle is not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood.
Chest discomfort that appears during exercise or emotional stress and improves with rest can be a sign of reduced blood flow to the heart. New, severe or unexplained chest pain, especially with sweating, nausea, breathlessness or pain spreading to the arm, back, neck or jaw, needs urgent medical attention.
Shortness of breath is another symptom worth noticing. If the heart cannot pump blood effectively, fluid can build up in the lungs, making breathing harder during activity and, in more serious cases, while resting or lying flat.
This can occur with heart failure, which does not mean that the heart has completely stopped working. Instead, it means the heart is not pumping or filling as well as the body needs.
Unusual tiredness can also be a warning sign. A person may suddenly find normal activities such as walking, shopping or climbing stairs much more exhausting than before, even when they are getting enough sleep.
Fatigue has many possible causes, including anemia, infections and sleep problems, so it does not automatically mean heart disease. However, persistent or unexplained tiredness deserves medical attention, particularly when it appears with breathlessness, chest discomfort or reduced ability to exercise.
Swelling in the feet, ankles or legs can provide another clue. When the heart is struggling to move blood efficiently, pressure can build up in blood vessels and fluid may leak into nearby tissues, causing visible swelling.
Swelling can have many other causes, including kidney problems, vein problems and some medicines. But swelling that is new, worsening or accompanied by shortness of breath or rapid weight gain should be discussed with a healthcare professional.
Changes in your heartbeat may also signal a problem. You might feel that your heart is racing, pounding, fluttering or skipping beats, sensations commonly described as heart palpitations.
Many occasional palpitations are harmless and can be triggered by stress, caffeine or exercise. Frequent or new palpitations, especially when accompanied by chest pain, fainting, severe dizziness or breathlessness, should be checked because an abnormal heart rhythm may be responsible.
Dizziness and lightheadedness are another possible warning sign. They can occur when the brain temporarily receives less blood, which may sometimes be related to an abnormal heart rhythm, a heart valve problem or another condition affecting circulation.
These six symptoms do not always mean that something is wrong with the heart, but they should not be ignored when they are new, unexplained, persistent or getting worse. Regular health checks can also help doctors find high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other heart disease risks before noticeable symptoms develop.
Recognizing warning signs early can lead to faster diagnosis and treatment. If symptoms such as chest pressure, severe breathing difficulty, fainting or other sudden serious symptoms occur, seeking emergency medical care is safer than waiting to see whether they disappear.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and calcium supplements could harm your heart health.
For more health information, please see recent studies that blackcurrants can reduce blood sugar after meal and results showing how drinking milk affects risks of heart disease and cancer.
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