A top cardiologist has revealed the top 10 heart symptoms you should never ignore, including nausea with chest pain and fatigue upon waking. But a recent survey found that 54% of adults wouldn’t guess these symptoms were linked to poor heart health.
Dr Ameet Bakhai, consultant cardiologist at Spire Bushey Hospital in North London, listed other signs that could indicate your heart is in less than optimal condition, including heaviness in the arm on exertion, shortness of breath when climbing stairs and extra or missed heartbeats.
Difficulty bending and standing, feeling dizzy when standing up quickly, and swollen legs are also indicators that your heart is not adjusting to your positions or is retaining fluid in the body and needs attention.
Half of the 2,000 UK adults surveyed said they had experienced at least one of these symptoms.
Bakhai, who is particularly interested in the impact of lifestyle factors on heart health, says an adult with a healthy heart should be able to walk up two flights of stairs without getting out of breath and squatting on the toilet , provided he has no other health problems. .
Similarly, a healthy adult should be able to comfortably hold their breath for 20 seconds.
“We often ignore our heart health and its signals until it’s too late,” said Bakhai, who advised Healthspan, which commissioned the survey, about their Love Your Heart supplements in the UK.
“There are no annual measurements, observations or tests (MOT) to go through for most of us, so we ignore the little signals that our own engine isn’t working ideally.
“Heart problems can often get progressively worse, until one day you have a more complicated problem – this could have been avoided if you had heeded the warning signs.
“Heart problems can be linked to other things – you might consider not being able to climb two flights of stairs plus lung disease or lack of fitness or weight gain, but there are a lot of overlap with coronary artery disease or heart valve problems or irregular heartbeat.
This is why it is essential to take care of your heart health.
The poll also found that one in five adults said they felt dizzy after getting up too quickly, while 11% felt chest tightness.
But a third believe these symptoms could be from a number of different things, while 26% simply don’t see them as serious. 17% didn’t raise these issues with other people because they didn’t want to be perceived as melodramatic, and 13% simply consider themselves too young to have heart problems.
PREVENTION TIP: Short brisk walks instead of long walks can reduce risk of heart disease, key study of 88,000 people finds
Bakhai explained, “It is unfortunately a misunderstanding because heart disease can affect people of all ages, especially in the era of COVID, because the virus can attack the heart lining like a disease called myopericarditis (inflamed heart and envelope cardiac).
“Warning signs like tightness in the chest, pain in the arms or jaw, dizziness when standing, shortness of breath when bending over should act as warning signs that your heart is calling for help.
A quarter of respondents said they had health problems, such as high blood pressure, while 20% said they had high cholesterol.
72% of people surveyed by OnePoll had never consulted a medical professional about heart problems, although 68% consider heart health to be very important to them, with this figure rising to 80% of people aged over 65 . About half admitted they needed to do more to guard their hearts. in good working order.
10 SYMPTOMS OF HEART HEALTH
Dizziness when standing up quickly
Shortness of breath
Difficulty bending down
Palpitations
Chest tightening
Arm pain – often on the left
Difficulty standing
Chest discomfort (excluding oppression)
Swollen legs
Frequent extra or skipped heartbeats
SURVEY your friends by sharing the poll on social media…