The main symptom of PAD is severe leg pain when walking. Atrial fibrillation , or AFib, is a heart condition that is rarely deadly. This can cause a person to experience an irregular heartbeat and a feeling of fluttering in their chest. Having AFib can increase your risk of having a stroke or heart failure. Because the chambers beat irregularly, blood can easily stall in the chambers and create clots.
Angina is the medical term for chest pain. The result is a feeling of squeezing or pressure in the chest. Different types of angina exist. The most common types are stable and unstable angina. Stable angina is also known as angina with physical exertion. Unstable angina is a more concerning symptom because it is chest pain that occurs unrelated to exertion. Angina is more of a symptom than a condition. Women and men can have different symptoms related to their heart disease because they are more likely to have different parts of the heart affected.
As a result, women may experience different symptoms related to their heart disease, including nausea, shortness of breath, vomiting, or stomach pain. Men are more likely to experience heart disease that affects or blocks the major coronary arteries.
This can cause the symptoms that people more commonly associate with heart disease, such as crushing chest pain, tightness, or pressure in the chest, particularly with stress or physical activity. If a person experiences angina, they may be afraid to exert themselves for fear of chest pain or other uncomfortable symptoms. Those with heart failure can develop swelling, dizziness, and other symptoms that can affect their ability to complete daily tasks.
A person with diagnosed heart disease must also live with the stress of knowing they have a long-term illness that could result in a cardiac event, such as heart attack or stroke. The long-term outlook for people with heart disease depends upon many factors.
Worry or stress will come and go; anxiety is a feeling that stays after the stressors have been removed. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but for someone experiencing anxiety, these feelings can be difficult to control.
Sometimes anxiety may have a single cause, but often there is no specific cause. Depression is a constant feeling of sadness and loss, which stops you doing your normal activities. We can all feel sad or moody occasionally, but some people experience these feelings intensely, for long periods of time, and sometimes without any apparent cause.
Depression affects how you feel about yourself and makes life more difficult to manage. You might lose interest in your work, hobbies, or doing things you would usually enjoy. You could lack energy, have trouble sleeping, sleep more than usual, feel irritable, or find it hard to concentrate. So, what are the links between heart health and mental health?
Here are some links we know about:. A heart attack can affect people in many ways. Having a heart attack can affect your attitude and mood. You might feel lucky to be alive and that you have had a wake-up call. You may feel uncertain about the future and anxious about your long-term health. You may be less confident, or embarrassed or frustrated because you can't do as much. And it's not uncommon to feel guilty about things you've done in the past that might have led to the heart attack.
Feeling down for a little while is to be expected, but if these feelings last longer than a couple of weeks, you could have depression:. Living with heart disease or having a heart attack can trigger anxiety.
Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed. You may be experiencing anxiety if you:. Remember, effective treatment is available for depression and anxiety, no matter what their cause.
Diagnosing depression in people with heart disease is not always easy, because symptoms of depression, such as tiredness and low energy levels, are shared with heart disease or can be side effects of medication used to treat heart conditions.
Doctors can screen for depression using questionnaires or interviews that address the symptoms of depression. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Usatine RP, et al. McGraw-Hill Education; Wilson PWF. Overview of the possible risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Jameson JL, et al. Ischemic heart disease. In: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. The McGraw-Hill Companies; Understanding blood pressure readings. American Heart Association. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Department of Health and Human Services. Your guide to lowering your cholesterol with therapeutic lifestyle changes TLC.
Rethinking drinking: Alcohol and your health. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Accessed April 2, Department of Health and Human Services and U. Department of Agriculture. Omega-3 supplements: In depth.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Mankad R expert opinion. Mayo Clinic. April 28, Fish and omega-3 fatty acids. A heart attack is a medical emergency that can result in death or permanent heart damage.
If a person is showing symptoms of a heart attack, it is vital to call emergency services immediately. Treatment tends to involve making positive lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking , adopting a healthy diet, and getting regular exercise. Doctors may also prescribe medications to prevent the progression of CAD. Current guidelines recommend that people with a history of heart attack, stroke , angina, or other cardiovascular events take aspirin.
This is because aspirin prevents blood clots from forming on plaque. For those who have not had a heart attack, the use of aspirin is more controversial.
But, in general, doctors usually recommend aspirin if there is a high burden of plaque and a low risk of bleeding. Doctors now also recommend focusing on lifestyle strategies, such as adopting a healthy diet and getting regular moderate to intense exercise. These strategies can reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. One option is coronary bypass surgery : A surgeon will use a blood vessel from another part of the body to create a graft that bypasses the blocked artery.
The graft may come from the leg, for example, or an inner chest wall artery. Another option is angioplasty and stent placement. A surgeon will insert a catheter into the narrowed part of the artery and pass a deflated balloon through the catheter to the affected area. When they inflate the balloon, it compresses the fatty deposits against the artery walls. They may leave a stent, or mesh tube, in the artery to help keep it open. On rare occasions, a person may need a heart transplant.
However, this is only if the heart has severe damage and treatment is not working. Here, learn more about treating a heart attack. To better control blood cholesterol levels, consider:.
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