Chest pain and dyspnea are symptoms of a heart attack dyspnea and chest pain are causes of coronary artery disease Cardiac stress testing is necessary for those at risk for coronary artery disease dyspnea is serious and may be life-threatening Dyspnea is one of the most common symptoms of heart failure Anemia, high blood pressure, and obesity lead to dyspnea Quitting smoking, eating healthy, and exercising prevent heart disease
Patients - especially smokers - who are suffering from difficulty breathing during exertion often wonder how this is related to the heart and to what degree shortness of breath and chest pain are related to heart disease, especially if the cases are accompanied by shortness of breath and chest pain, which is what drives many people to suffer from heart disease. Patients are asked about the relationship between chest pain, shortness of breath and heart attack.
Heart attack is one of the most dangerous types of clots that some people suffer from, and the cause is exposure to blockage in the main arteries of the heart, or the accumulation of harmful cholesterol in the arteries of the heart, and we find that some people are more susceptible to heart attack , and the reason is advanced age and smoking. Following wrong eating habits, high cholesterol, and obesity.
A person suffering from a heart attack feels severe chest pain that is difficult to bear. This pain is sometimes accompanied by pain in the jaw, shoulder, arm, or back. The affected person also feels an inability to catch his breath and severe shortness of breath. In this interview With Dr. Radha Krishnan - Consultant Cardiologist at Naseem Medical Center, we learn more about the symptoms and causes of dyspnea and chest pain and their relationship to heart disease and methods of treatment and prevention of the disease:
* How do you define the symptoms of dyspnea and chest pain resulting from a heart problem?
Dyspnea or difficulty breathing is an annoying feeling of not being able to get a sufficient amount of air, and is accompanied by tightness and pain in the chest. Dyspnea is often associated with diseases of the heart and lungs. Sometimes the patient suffers from “cyanosis,” which means a change in the color of the skin of the tongue. The mucous membranes turn blue.
Chest pain resulting from a heart attack, it may be caused by an acute heart attack or acute myocardial infarction, and it results from a complete or partial blockage of one of the main epicardial coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart. The patient may also feel pain in the center of the chest.
The patient also feels chest pain in the form of a burning sensation or sometimes heaviness in the chest. The pain may often spread to the left arm, and rarely the pain spreads to the right arm, jaw, or upper abdomen and back, and the pain lasts for more than 20 minutes.
* What is the difference between the causes of dyspnea and chest pain resulting from a heart problem and the causes resulting from other diseases?
The causes behind dyspnea vary. We may find causes related to non-cardiac diseases such as bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary tuberculosis, malignant tumors, bronchiectasis, and others. As for cardiac causes of dyspnea and chest pain may include coronary artery disease - acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), unstable angina (UA), and Effort angina (EA), as well as cardiac causes. Others such as pericarditis, myocarditis, heart tumors, aortic aneurysm, and aortic dissection.
As for chest pain that is not accompanied by heart problems, it may be due to pneumonia, acute chest pain, malignant tumors in the lung, chest trauma, reflux esophagitis, and pulmonary embolism.
Chest pain caused by heart disease can also be due to coronary heart disease, myocardial disease, pericardial disease, or sometimes due to MVP, pulmonary hypertension, aortic dissection, or aortic aneurysm.
Chest pain resulting from coronary heart disease is called angina, and the pain is posterior to the chest with profuse sweating, vomiting, and sometimes loss of consciousness, and the pain radiates to the upper extremities, jaw, upper abdomen, and back.
Chest pain resulting from acute myocardial infarction lasts more than 20 minutes, while exertional angina occurs due to exertion and disappears by resting or taking nitrates under the tongue.
* When does treadmill test / a cardiac stress test become necessary?
-Any patient with risk factors for coronary artery disease such as high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia, or a family history of coronary artery disease should undergo a stress test to rule out underlying coronary artery disease.
Before stress testing the patient, a detailed clinical examination with ECG and echocardiogram should be performed to rule out acute coronary syndrome or other structural heart disease.
Dyspnea is dangerous because it may be life-threatening, such as acute myocardial infarction, acute pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax, or pulmonary embolism. Dyspnea and chest pain can occur with a heart attack, and a heart attack results from the formation of a clot in the arteries. Coronaries that supply blood to the heart muscle.
* Is dyspnea a common symptom in most heart failure patients?
Dyspnea is one of the most common symptoms of heart failure, as is exertional dyspnea or dyspnea at rest. Sometimes the patient develops acute dyspnea after 2 hrs of sleep at night, which is called paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (PND). Patients with advanced heart failure suffer from dyspnea immediately after lying down, which is called heart failure. Based on seventy cases of dyspnea, the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classified it into 4 functional categories from I to IV.
Dyspnea and chest pain are also symptoms of underlying heart or lung diseases. Dyspnea is a manifestation of the underlying disease, so any patient suffering from chest pain or dyspnea needs a comprehensive investigation to rule out underlying cardiac or respiratory causes. Sometimes anemia, high blood pressure, and obesity can lead to breathlessness .
*Does acute chest pain always indicate a heart problem?
The cause of these pains is not necessarily a heart injury, and at the same time chest pain should not be neglected due to the possibility that the cause of these pains is the heart or a blockage in one of the arteries feeding it.
* What are the symptoms of chest pain resulting from heart disease?
People with a heart attack experience acute chest pain accompanied by dyspnea , pain in the jaw, left shoulder, or back, pain in the upper stomach, inability to breathe normally, excessive sweating, feelings of anxiety and tension, coughing, and increased heartbeat. Heart failure and inability to concentrate.
Chest pain may coincide with some other, less common heart diseases, such as: myocarditis, pericarditis, hereditary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and mitral valve prolapse.
* How can dyspnea and chest pain resulting from heart problems be prevented?
Prevention of dyspnea and chest pain resulting from heart problems lies in following a number of practices that reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, including: Controlling other diseases that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, which include:
High blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, diabetes, maintaining weight within its normal levels, and following a healthy diet that includes eating plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and limiting the intake of saturated fats, and foods that contain a high percentage of sodium. Added sugars, regular exercise, quitting smoking, reducing stress levels, and getting enough sleep.
