Heart Attack
A heart attack happens when some of cells that make up your heart don’t get enough oxygen or nutrients. This is because of some obstruction in the arteries and it leads to the death of these cells. When this happens, the cells release substances that were supposed to be inside them. These substances, in turn, cause pain and can be detected in your blood in order to know if part of your heart died or not.
The major symptom of a heart attack is feeling pressure behind your sternum. But sometimes heart attacks appear as dizziness, nausea, sweating and confusion, especially in older people and diabetics. These are called silent heart attacks.
If you suspect a heart attack take an aspirin and dial 911 immediately.
Angina
Angina is a bit like a heart attack and it will also cause you to feel pressure behind your sternum. However, this happens when you are doing some kind of effort (like climbing stairs) and not when you are resting like with a heart attack.
In angina the arteries that supply your heart are thinner and can’t deliver enough blood to your heart when it begins to work more than average. Thus you feel the pain. But then you stop whatever you were doing and the heart doesn’t need that extra blood, so the pain goes away.
If you suspect you may suffer from angina, talk to your physician.
Heart Failure
A heart failure is when you heart can’t do enough pressure to push out all the blood already inside it. It can happen because there is too much blood due to some form of heart defect, or because you have hypertension and the heart has to beat a larger pressure in order to put the blood out there in the arteries.
When this happens, blood begins to collect on the lungs and you will feel breathless. As the condition progresses, blood also accumulates on your veins and your belly will grow larger and your legs will swell.
This happens over the course of months or years, so it is easy to not notice it at all.
If you suspect you may have a heart failure, talk to your doctor.
Arrhythmia
Arrhythmias happen when your heart’s electrical system malfunctions and the rhythm of your heartbeat is changed. When this happens you may feel your heart beat stronger, feel dizzy, light headed or even faint.
If you have two or more of those symptoms without an apparent reason (like being very nervous, very happy, or very in love) go to the hospital.
Heart Murmur
Heart murmurs are not actually diseases but signs of disease. They are produced when the blood hits the walls of your heart and doctors can find out if there is a problem in one of the valves that are part of your heart and in which by listening to the sounds.
Heart murmurs can appear at any age, which is one of the reasons why you should do a yearly check up with your physician.
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