Heart Disease Signs and Symptoms in Men

Heart disease increases the risk of life-threatening cardiac emergencies like a cardiac arrest or heart attack. The major risk factors include high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Adopting healthy lifestyle measures, such as regular exercise and eating a healthy diet can keep these risk factors in check. Heart disease also is one of the most common health problems faced by people, particularly men. They can reduce their risk of developing serious complications, such as a heart attack by knowing some signs and symptoms.

Heart disease refers to a range of health issues including coronary artery disease, arrhythmias, heart failure, angina and other ticker-related irregularities, infections, and birth abnormalities. The American Heart Association estimates more than 1 in 3 men in the United States get affected by heart disease. A person may have evident, recognizable signs in some cases, it is as possible to develop the disease without experiencing any noticeable symptoms.

Heart Disease Signs in Men:

A man may notice a heart attack or another severe heart-related event as the earliest sign of cardiovascular disease. However, there are often earlier signs and symptoms that one can look for that may help prevent a heart attack, stroke, or other complications of cardiovascular disease.

Arrhythmia Symptoms- Arrhythmias occur when the ticker beats irregularly, or too quickly or slowly. Look for symptoms like fainting or dizziness, heart racing sensation, or ticker beating too slowly or irregularly; chest discomfort or pressure, difficulty catching the breath particularly after moderate exercise such as climbing up stairs; unexplained pain in the jaw, neck or torso.

Symptoms associated with Blood Vessel Problems- Over a period of time, blood vessels can narrow or constrict which can make it difficult for blood to pass through the veins and arteries thus putting greater strain on the ticker when it pumps. Shortness of breath, an irregular heartbeat, chest pain or angina, extreme fatigue and a feeling of pain, numbness, swelling, tingling, coldness, or weakness in the outer extremities are some of the symptoms of narrowing blood vessels.

Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction) Symptoms- Symptoms include chest pain, a sensation of chest pressure or fullness, unexplained excessive sweating, shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness and pain in the arm, neck, jaw, or back. When having an MI, men generally experience a combination of these symptoms.

Difference in Symptoms between Men and Women:

For cardiovascular disease and a myocardial infarction, men and women share many of the same symptoms. But men are more likely to experience the well-known MI symptoms such as crushing chest pain, cold sweat, shortness of breath, pain in the arm, jaw, or back, squeezing or discomfort in the chest and nausea. Talking about women, they are less likely to experience a crushing chest pain and have a higher chance of having symptoms like feeling faint or lightheaded, squeezing on the upper back, pressure or squeezing in the center of the chest and pain in the jaw, neck, or chest. This causes women to ignore their cardiac symptoms as they are less obvious that they relate particularly to the ticker.

Prevention Tips:

1.      Quit smoking

2.      Eat a diet low in processed sugars

3.      Perform at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise a week.

4.      Maintain a healthy weight

5.      Increase the amount of fruits, fiber and vegetables intake

6.      Reduce salt consumption

You cannot predict the occurrence of a sudden cardiac arrest. All you can do is to stay prepared to face such emergencies efficiently. Contribute towards the safety of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims by getting CPR trained today. At CPR Louisville, you can either register for a course online or call on 502-804-6132 to sign up