1. First Symptoms of Heart Disease
Shortness of breath can be nothing more than an indication of your general level of "being in shape." When do you feel short of breath? After sexual relations, climbing stairs or exerting yourself in a friendly game of softball? Or is the condition more pervasive, bothering you under normal, unstressful conditions? If this is the case, then you need to get checked by a medical professional as soon as possible. While it is true that shortness of breath can be caused by any number of things, the potential danger that it poses to you and to your heart make it imperative that you check with your doctor and get proper treatment as needed. This is the first most common symptom of heart disease.
2. Chest Pain Is No Game
No matter how you look at it, chest pain--squeezing, tightness, crushing--is a call to immediate action. The range of possible problems associated with chest pain is so great that it is always in your best interest not to ignore any such pain, but to get qualified medical help as soon as you possibly can. This is the second most common symptom that may indicate heart disease. When with your doctor or medical professional, be prepared to answer questions such as how the pain feels, whether it's a general feeling of discomfort or a specific area of acute pain, whether or not the pain increases or decreases when you change position or eat certain foods and whether or not the pain radiates outward to the jaw, neck, back or arms.
3. General Difficulty in Breathing
Any time you have trouble breathing to any degree, you need to consider getting to a doctor. Inasmuch as pulmonary heart disease, by definition, is a condition that puts undue pressure on your lungs, the risks are too great to ignore.
4. Sinking Into Syncope
Syncope is, strictly speaking, a loss of consciousness, the extreme instance of fainting. Our own experience teaches us that there are many and varied causes of syncope, including low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), intense coughing, low blood pressure and epileptic episodes. However, it is always worth prompt medical attention, especially if experienced in concert with the other symptoms mentioned here. In isolation, it can be nothing more than a reaction to a traumatic experience; in company with these various other symptoms, it can lead to a diagnosis of pulmonary heart disease.
