Heart Diseases - Symptoms And DiagnosisÂ

Heart-related diseases are some of the most common medical ailments that people report. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases - those that affect the heart and blood vessels of the body - claim around 17.9 million lives each year.  Heart diseases are often genetic or caused due to environmental factors and can be managed or controlled to a large extent if detected early. The Deerfield Beach heart disease specialist offers services to analyze an individual's vulnerability to heart disease. Often, the test recommended by a doctor depends on the type of symptoms a patient may be exhibiting.  What are the symptoms of heart disease? The term "heart disease" broadly describes the different conditions that can affect the heart. While there are various heart diseases, they tend to share similar symptoms. Knowing the difference between the conditions is crucial to be more accurately diagnosed. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is caused due to a build-up of fat in the blood vessels. The symptoms of coronary artery disease include angina (chest pain), irregular heartbeats, shortness of breath, nausea, pain, or numbness in the legs or arms, and sweating. Heaviness and discomfort can also manifest in the neck, throat, jaw, back, or shoulders.  A prevalent heart-related ailment is a heart attack, affecting almost 805,000 people in the United States every year. The symptoms include heaviness, pain, discomfort in the chest or surrounding area, nausea, palpitations, weakness, and anxiety. 

• Genetic abnormalities can also cause heart diseases. Heart defects at birth are called congenital heart illnesses, and symptoms are heart murmurs, shortness of breath, and pale skin color. 

• Cardiomyopathy refers to a condition where the heart muscle is diseased. Symptoms of cardiomyopathy include irregular heartbeats, weakness, fatigue, and breathlessness.

• Endocarditis is a type of infection that primarily affects the chambers and valves of the heart. It presents some common symptoms of infection, such as fever and cough but is also often accompanied by fatigue, shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, and skin rashes.

• Pericarditis affects the heart lining, and it manifests as sharp chest pain, trouble breathing, and swelling in the lower part of the body. 

How can heart diseases be diagnosed? Various methods of diagnosing heart-related illnesses have been developed. Some of the common ways are:

1. Blood work
2. Electrocardiogram (EKG)
3. Stress testing 
4. Low-dose CT (computerized tomography) scanning 
5. Echocardiogram 
6. Cardiac MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)