Chest pain is a complicated symptom that could suggest an underlying serious disease. The chest houses many organs including the lungs, heart and the esophagus. These wide arrays of minor and major organs make it difficult for healthcare providers to determine the primary cause of the pain. It is always necessary to determine the underlying cause of your condition and to clearly describe the characteristics and kind of pain that you experience. This will suggest some clues on finding ways on how to alleviate the pain. The rule of thumb is that when you experience severe pain, an immediate medical intervention is needed. This also holds true when the pain radiates on the different parts of your body like on the left, then you should immediately call your local emergency medical support team. It is also advised that you stay put and you should not drive as further strenuous activity or exertion could only aggravate the pain.

Pains in the chest have different characteristics. A person may experience dull or sharp pains. Based from the recent study, women are statistically low compared to men. The sensation of pain is transmitted by the complex nerves of the body. This means that the pain that a person encounters may originate from other distal organs of the body. An example would be stomach pains. Stomach pains can be transmitted by the underlying nerves of the stomach to the chest. This mimics a sensation of a chest pain that originates from the heart. You need to be cautious when determining if the pain is life threatening. Heart attack is one of the most alarming pain conditions.

The condition is brought about by the accumulation of fat at the coronary arteries. The obstruction of the coronary artery lessens or even totally blocks the entry of blood supply to the muscle of the heart. An extreme pain is elicited by this condition. This condition needs urgent intervention to alleviate the pain as well as to preserve some of the healthy portion of the heart muscles. Angina is another kind of chest pain that originates from the poorly oxygenated blood that the muscle of the heart receives. It is less severe compared to heart attack but needs proper medical intervention. Pain felt in the chest that is usually encountered after having a full meal is called heart burn. This occurs because of the reflux of the excess gastric acid production of the stomach.

Pains in the chest suggests a variety of health conditions and concerns. You should always consider the advice of your trusted healthcare provider. It is always important to treat the condition urgently. These conditions give a good prognosis if a swift action and intervention is initiated. If ever you have a preexisting disease, make sure that you comply with your prescribed maintenance medications to keep you from experiencing the painful course of the disease. Always remember that an informed individual makes good decisions about his self.

What Is Cardiovascular Disease?

Cardiovascular disease is just one type of heart disease. It occurs when the blood vessels running between the heart and other areas of the body become clogged. This clogging prevents blood from flowing in and out of the heart and can also affect blood flow to the brain. The clogging is often caused by consumption of foods high in saturated fats on a routine basis. There are other potential causes, but dietary concerns are at the very top of the list.

Unfortunately, many people have clogged arteries long before they are officially diagnosed as a cardiovascular disease patient. This is because many do not realize the symptoms that their arteries are clogged until they experience more severe medical occurrences, such as a heart attack.

Common Signs of Cardiovascular Disease

There are a variety of symptoms that can hint something is going wrong with your heart, but the symptoms specific to cardiovascular disease are as follows:

• Angina
• Shortness of Breath
• Pain in arms or legs
• Numbness in arms or legs
• Weakness in arms or legs
• Cold sensation in arms or legs

Angina is the medical term for pain in the chest. It is one of the most common symptoms of cardiovascular disease, along with shortness of breath. Many people with clogged arteries will start to experience these two symptoms without any of the others. The remaining symptoms in the arms and legs are specific to conditions where blood vessels in the limbs are clogged or restricted. If the blockage is in other areas, these symptoms will not be experienced.

Experiencing shortness of breath when doing exercise or other intense activities doesn’t necessarily mean you have cardiovascular disease. The shortness of breath related to a serious heart condition typically occurs with very light activity or exercise. If you cannot walk up a very short set of stairs without bending over out of breath, you may be experiencing early signs of heart congestion.

What to Do If You Recognize the Signs

It is important to see a doctor as soon as you start noticing potential signs of cardiovascular disease. There are some tests that can determine if you have some clogging in your arteries and you will be able to take early action to improve the condition. In many cases, you can stop the clogging or even remove some of it, lowering your chances of having a stroke or heart attack in the future.

The first step is always to educate on the symptoms of heart disease in general. Once you know what is normal and what signals potential trouble, you will know when you need to see a medical doctor and push for testing. The earlier the problems are identified and diagnosed, the earlier you can take action to prevent a more serious heart condition or even death.

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Heart disease, usually called as cardiac disease or cardiopathy, is a general term which refers to various heart-related diseases. Some types of heart disease may share similar symptoms. However, each disease has particular symptoms which depend on the type and the severity of the condition. Below are some types of heart diseases and how to recognize them from their symptoms.

1. Heart attack (Myocardial Infarction or MI)

A person who suffers from heart attack may experience discomfort, heaviness, pressure, or pain around the chest, arm, or below the breastbone. In some cases, the feeling can spread through the jaw, back, and throat. Heart attack also triggers sweating, dizziness, anxiety, nausea, irregular heartbeats, and shortness of breath. A heart attack may last for half an hour or longer. Sometimes, heart attack can occur without any symptoms. This type of heart attack is commonly called a silent MI and happens more often among diabetics.

2. Coronary artery disease

Generally, a coronary artery disease is defined by the occurrence of angina or chest pain. A chest pain creates squeezing, aching, burning, heaviness, and painful sensation around the chest and can spread through the shoulders, jaw, back, throat, or arm. Besides angina, other symptoms commonly follow a coronary artery disease are rapid heartbeat, palpitations, sweating, nausea, weakness, dizziness, and shortness of breath.

3. Arrhythmia

Arrhythmia is an irregular or abnormal rhythm of heart beats. Symptoms that may present during an arrhythmia include palpitations, the feeling of light-headed, fainting, discomfort feeling in chest, fatigue, chest pounding, dizziness, shortness of breath, and weakness. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of some types of arrhythmia. Like arrhythmia sufferers, AF patients may also experience the lack of energy, palpitations, dizziness, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, and tiredness.

4. Heart valve disease

Heart valve disease is a condition when the heart valve cannot work normally. This disease triggers dizziness, weakness feeling, chest discomfort, palpitations, and shortness of breath which you notice while doing normal activities or just lying in bed. Heart valve disease which causes heart failure may show some other symptoms such as fast weight gain and swelling in the ankles, feet, or abdomen area.

5. Heart failure

Heart failure occurs when the heart suffers from cardiac disorders which prevent enough blood from circulating the body. Like the heart valve disease, heart failure also shows symptoms like the shortness of breath; fatigue; ankles, abdomen, and feet swelling; dizziness; fast weight gain; nausea; palpitations; and chest pain. A person who suffers from heart failure may also experience cough that produces white mucus.

Cholesterol, a substance that resembles wax, is produced in the liver. This substance helps you by protecting nerves, constructing cell tissues and producing particular hormones. Besides being produced by our body, we can also get cholesterol from outer sources such as dairy products, meats and eggs. While in normal amounts this substance is beneficial, high cholesterol levels can trigger various health problems including heart attacks and strokes.

Excessive cholesterol in our body is stored in our arteries. As this substance builds up, it will create plaque inside the artery walls. Hardened plaque results in narrowed arteries while too much plaque can even entirely block the arteries. Cholesterol blockage in the arteries can prevent the circulation of blood inside our body. A heart attack occurs when the arteries that supply blood to our heart are blocked; meanwhile, a stroke is caused when there is blockage in the arteries supplying blood to the brain.

There are two types of cholesterol that we find in our body; LDL (low-density lipoprotein) which distributes the cholesterol to our body, and high-density lipoprotein, which helps remove the blockage from the body. Typically, LDL is called bad cholesterol, while HDL is called the good one.

To determine the cholesterol levels inside the body, you need to have your cholesterol checked. Checking cholesterol can be done by doing a blood test, which is called the lipid panel. All adults above 20 years old should regularly have this lipid panel done once every five years. However, people who have a higher risk of heart disease should get their cholesterol checked more often and as soon as possible. People who have a higher risk of heart disease among others are smokers, women above 55 years old, men above 45 years old, women at the menopause stage, and people who are inactive or overweight. People with a history of heart disease in their family or those who previously have had a heart attack, diabetes or high blood pressure are also considered at high risk.

When you undergo the cholesterol check, you usually will obtain the result of the total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol levels. Besides, there will also be a report on your triglyceride level; triglycerides are the fats that build up with the consumption of sweets and alcohols. In the US, the level of cholesterol is measured in milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dl) of blood. You are considered in good condition if your total cholesterol counts is less than 200 mg/dl, the LDL cholesterol level is below 100 mg/dl, the HDL cholesterol level is 60 mg/dl or higher, and the triglycerides level should be below 150 mg/dl.