You may have trouble breathing, an irregular heartbeat, swollen legs, neck veins that stick out, and sounds from fluid built up in your lungs. Your doctor will check for these and other signs of heart failure. A test called an echocardiogram is often the best test to diagnose your heart failure.
blood tests – to check whether there's anything in your blood that might indicate heart failure or another illness. an electrocardiogram (ECG) – this records the electrical activity of your heart to check for problems. an echocardiogram – a type of ultrasound scan where sound waves are used to examine your heart.
Warning signs and symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, chronic coughing or wheezing, swelling, fatigue, loss of appetite, and others.
Physicians can hear if the patient has a normal heart rhythm or if the patient has an abnormal rhythm, called an arrhythmia, like atrial fibrillation.
Your doctor will use a stethoscope to hear your heartbeat. The closing of your heart's valves makes a "lub dub" noise. The doctor can check your heart and valve health and hear your heart's rate and rhythm by listening to those sounds.
In general, about half of all people diagnosed with congestive heart failure will survive 5 years. About 30% will survive for 10 years. In patients who receive a heart transplant, about 21% of patients are alive 20 years later.
Stage I is considered “pre-heart failure.” High-risk individuals include patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and coronary artery disease. A family history of alcohol abuse, rheumatic fever, cardiotoxic drug therapy, or cardiomyopathy can increase your risk.
Chest pain, chest tightness, chest pressure and chest discomfort (angina) Shortness of breath. Pain in the neck, jaw, throat, upper belly area or back. Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in the legs or arms if the blood vessels in those body areas are narrowed.
You may have a perfectly normal ECG, yet still have a heart condition. If your test is normal but your doctor suspects that you have a heart problem, he may recommend that you have another ECG, or a different type of test to find out for sure.
As a result, people with heart failure often feel weak (especially in their arms and legs), tired and have difficulty performing ordinary activities such as walking, climbing stairs or carrying groceries.
Bradycardia can be a serious problem if the heart rate is very slow and the heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood to the body. If this happens, you may feel dizzy, very tired or weak, and short of breath. Sometimes bradycardia doesn't cause symptoms or complications.
Shortness of breath (also called dyspnea)
You often complain of waking up tired or feeling anxious and restless. Blood "backs up" in the pulmonary veins (the vessels that return blood from the lungs to the heart) because the heart can't keep up with the supply. This causes fluid to leak into the lungs.
Since the symptoms of heart disease can range from mild to severe and from common to atypical, heart disease is often misdiagnosed as another health condition. Other diagnoses include anxiety, anemia, and kidney and lung diseases. Heart disease is most commonly mistaken as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
If your heart rate drops by only 12 beats or less there is a higher probability that you are unfit and are at risk of disease. See your GP more urgently. These results need to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially if you are performing the maximal ramp test unsupervised.
Although chest pain is common to both a panic attack and a heart attack, the characteristics of the pain often differ. During a panic attack, chest pain is usually sharp or stabbing and localized in the middle of the chest. Chest pain from a heart attack may resemble pressure or a squeezing sensation.
It's important to remember that one blood test alone doesn't determine the risk of heart disease. The most important risk factors for heart disease are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Here's a look at some of the blood tests used to diagnose and manage heart disease.
Overall, life expectancy may decrease by about 8-10% of your expected life. For example, a person with no heart disease will be expected to die around age 85, but in the presence of a heart attack, the life expectancy will be reduced by 10% or 8.5 years.
Symptoms can develop quickly (acute heart failure) or gradually over weeks or months (chronic heart failure).
Heart Failure: Quick Facts
About half of people who develop heart failure die within 5 years of diagnosis. 3. Most people with end-stage heart failure have a life expectancy of less than 1 year.
In some cases of heart failure — particularly newly diagnosed CHF or heart failure after other cardiac surgery — the heart may recover after a period of support on a VAD.
Heart failure can happen at any age. It happens to both men and women, but men often develop it at a younger age than women. Your chance of developing heart failure increases if: You're 65 years old or older.
Your risk for heart disease increases with age, especially with people of color and for those who are over 65. While the average age for a heart attack is 64.5 for men, and 70.3 for women, nearly 20% of those who die of heart disease are under the age of 65.