What You Should Know About The Symptoms of Heart Problems

by Larry Johnson

The symptoms of heart diseases can be very varied. However, it is important to be aware of what those symptoms are so that you can get medical help right away. Heart problems, when left untreated, can lead to death. In fact, cardiovascular diseases are some of the leading killers in the world today.

Symptoms of Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are very common today. These start out not as problems in the heart itself but on the blood vessels. When some materials block the blood vessels and makes it hard for the blood to pass through then that can cause the more serious problems. The most usual symptoms of these are chest pain, shortness of breath and numbness of weakness in the parts of the body where the affected blood vessels are located. If you feel any of these symptoms then you should seek medical attention right away. People might not get diagnosed that they have cardiovascular problems until it is too late.

Symptoms of Abnormal Heartbeats

Another common heart ailment is having an abnormal heartbeat. This can be signify a congenital disease, which means that a person has had it since birth. Sometimes this kind of condition is not detected right away and a person can reach adulthood without knowing that he has this kind of disease. Symptoms of this condition would include a fluttering feeling in the chest, very fast heartbeat, pain in the chest, shortness of breath, dizziness and fainting spells. A person who feels these symptoms should see a doctor right away because this condition can be very serious.

Heart Defects

Another type of condition that a person can be born with is having a defective heart. Normally, this condition becomes evident right after the birth of a child because of its physical symptoms. Symptoms include a grayish or bluish color of the skin, swelling on some parts of the body, shortness of breath especially during feeding time. Sometimes, if the heart defect is not too serious, it might not get diagnosed right away until later in life.

Cardiomyopathy

This is the condition where the muscle tissues of the heart thicken. Initially this condition would have no serious symptoms, but as the condition progresses, the person will start to feel the signs. Symptoms would include getting tired easily, shortness of breath, bloating of the abdomen because of fluid, irregular breathing and dizziness.

Heart Infections

Like other parts of the body, the heart is also prone to infections. When it becomes infected, the person will start to feel a whole range of symptoms. Those symptoms could include, fever, shortness of breath, getting tired easily and dry cough that is very persistent.

Like most other diseases, heart problems are a lot easier to treat during the early stages. This is the reason why early detection is very important. The moment you start feeling any of the symptoms, seek medical help right away.

Congenital Heart Disease and Physical Therapy

by Ron Ayalon

Congenital heart diseases refers to the structural (anatomical) or physiological defects in the normal functioning of the heart as a result of birth defects that may be diagnosed soon after birth or may take years to produce full blown cardiac insufficiency. Valvular heart defects form the most common variety of congenital cardiac defect that is associated with high morbidity and mortality in adult years if no management options are employed.

This is because the metabolic demands of the body increase with growth and development that poses more pressure on the heart leading to cardiac failure or circulatory deficits. With overall prevalence of 26.6%, it was suggested that only 12.1% cases can be detected by clinical evaluation. Among the most prevalent congenital cardiac defects, ventricular septal abnormalities comprise 17.3% of all congenital anomalies followed by atrial septal defects (6.0%) and other less common cardiac diseases. The mortality is highest with cyanotic heart diseases.

According to the research statistics reported by Julien I.E Hoffman, over 1 million patients were born with congenital heart defects (during 1940 to 2002). Considering the quality of medical services and surgical/ medical advancements, Hoffman suggested that the total number of survivors with mild heart disease (who may reach well into adulthood) is 750,000 with mild heart disease, 400,000 with moderate heart disease and 180,000 with severe disease (with treatment). Without any management or treatment the survival rate may fall to 400,000 with mild disease, 220,000 with moderate disease, and 30,000 with severe heart disease, suggesting very high mortality.

Congenital heart diseases are also associated with stunted growth and development in children marked by poor weight gain, failure to thrive and frequent hospitalizations while growing up. In addition, these children also develop frequent episodes of shortness of breath, rapid heart rate (also known as tachycardia) and attacks of fatigue associated with decreased exercise endurance.

Physical therapy and mild exercises are helpful in the growth and development of children born with congenital heart disease. It is extremely important not to initiate exercise therapies in these children without seeking the guidance from registered physical therapists who work in coordination with the pediatric cardiologist to deliver best exercise regimens in order to optimize health without overloading the heart. Generally, children and adults can perform moderate static exercises of mild intensity without any complications; however, healthcare providers strongly restrict weight lifting in pediatric aged children and even in adults born with cardiac defects. 

Caution should be maintained to avoid lifting weight of more than 25 pounds in children and more than 50 pounds in adults. Physical therapist and pediatric cardiologist must assess every child individually and advice customized exercises and treatments according to the severity of illness and overall physical health. Treadmill test, bicycling and echocardiography are mainly used as assessment tools as the risk of sudden death increases if vigorous activity is attempted in children born with aortic stenosis, cyanotic heart diseases and coarctation of the aorta.

Hardcore or traditional gym exercises increase cardiac output that may overload the heart and may increase the risk of complications or sudden cardiac death. On the contrary, exercises performed under the guidance of physical therapists serve multiple benefits. Exercise or physical activities are needed in order to build stamina and maintain exercise endurance especially in school going children who engage in physical activities with peers. Physical therapy improves the pace of mental and physical development that allows children to develop healthy social relationships with peers, muscle and motor coordination and mental concordance. 

Physical therapy and periodic assessments are also needed in order to know the physical capacity of child and to track worsening of cardiac defect with age (in order to avoid accidents or unwanted incidents at schools) by restricting excessive physical activity. In some children, healthcare providers delay surgery until the child crosses some developmental milestones; however, it is very important that until then child stays in best possible physical shape to lessen the risk of surgical complications.

According to the scientific peer-reviewed journal- American Family Physician there are 5 stages of physical activity recommendations of Physical Activity in Children with CHD, ranging from no restriction to extreme limitation of physical activity (wheel chair bound).

Without any physical therapy, the progression into the severe disability is fairly high. It is the duty of parents to promote healthy physical activity but make sure to prevent contact sports or vigorous activities that may affect cardiac functioning.