Understanding Heart disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Management

What is it?

Heart disease is a general term, for any disease affecting the heart. There are many forms of heart diseases, divided to categories such as, blood vessel disease, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), congenital heart diseases, disease of the heart muscle and Heart valve disease.

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Signs & symptoms

There many symptoms and signs indication a heart disease.
Some of the major signs and symptoms include:
Chest pain or discomfort
Dizziness
Fainting (syncope)
Fluttering in the chest
Lightheadedness
tachycardia
Shortness of breath
Slow heartbeat (bradycardia)
Pale gray or blue skin or lips (cyanosis)
Swelling in the legs, belly area or areas around the eyes
Fatigue
Feeling short of breath during activity or at rest
Feeling short of breath at night when trying to sleep or waking up short of breath
Irregular heartbeats that feel rapid, pounding or fluttering

Diagnosis

Many different tests are used to diagnose heart disease. Although Blood tests and a chest X-ray, are fundamental, there several more tests to diagnose a heart disease.
1. Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) - Records the electrical signals in the heart to find abnormalities in heart rhythm.
2. Holter monitoring - An ECG device used to record the heart's activity during daily activities.
3. Echocardiogram - A test shows how blood moves through the heart and heart valves.
4. Exercise tests or stress tests - Help reveal how the heart responds to physical activity and whether heart disease symptoms occur during exercise.
5. Cardiac catheterization - This test can show blockages in the heart arteries.
6. Heart (cardiac) CT scan - A test to collect images of your heart and chest using X-ray.
7. Heart (cardiac) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan - A test to create detailed images of the heart.

Treatment

Some treatment focus on lifestyle, such as eating healthy, exercise daily and avoiding stress, while other treatments include medications, if lifestyle changes alone don't work.
medications may be needed to control heart disease symptoms and to prevent complications.
Some people with heart disease may need a procedure or surgery.
All treatments depends on the severity and type of the disease.

☝️ This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making any medical decision.

Learn more about our editorial process for content accuracy.

Source of Information - We analyze big data of more than 23 million patients de-identified medical records from the following sources:

National Institution of Health ∙ World Health Organization ∙ University of Illinois hospital