Heart Disease Symptoms

What is your heart telling you? Heart problems can take you by surprise. Suddenly, you are hunched over with chest pressure, pain or even a heart attack. These are frightening symptoms of coronary artery disease (sometimes called atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries). This disease means that your heart is not getting enough blood. The good news is that surgery and basic life style change can give your heart another chance.

Warning signs of coronary artery disease. Angina is one of the most common symptoms of the coronary artery disease. Angina is a feeling that can range from numbness or pressure to severe pain in your chest, arms, jaw, throat or upper back.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is atherosclerosis, or hardening of the artery that provides vital oxygen and nutrients to the heart.

Diagnosis of Heart Disease

Up to half of patients have no cardiac diagnoses, and even many of those with coronary disease are at low risk for early events ( 1mm, ischemic elevation, T wave inversions or new LBBB) may have much higher event rates, many hospitals have developed chest pain observation units to provide a longer period of observation and immediate testing in patients determined to be at low risk in order to improve the triage process.

In many cases those who have no electrocardiography changes or cardiac enzyme elevations undergo treadmill exercise test or imaging procedures to exclude ischemia at the end of a 6-24 hours period and are discharged directly from the emergency department if theses test are negative.

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Diagnosis of Heart Disease

The diagnosis of this problem is based upon clinical history and physical exam. Confirmatory test include electrocardiography (electrodes are connected to the chest, and heart activity is monitored and measurement of the level of serum Creatine Kinase Enzymes released into the blood by the damaged muscle.

Another method is the heart emagin technique called an angiography (injection of dye into the arteries followed by X ray).

Most patients with unstable angina will exhibit electrocardiography change during pain. Commonly ST segment elevation. They may exhibit sings of left ventricular dysfunction during pain and for a time there after.

Chest pain is one of the most frequent reasons for emergency department visits and the consequences of misdiagnosis are (significant clinically for false – negative diagnoses and economically for false – positives).

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Current Treatment or Management

Few cases of cardiomyopathy are amenable to specific therapy.