Sometimes, the danger signal from the heart is more dramatic. Atherosclerosis causes plaques to accumulate in the coronary arteries. These plaques are lumps and bumps within the coronary arteries that can contain cholesterol, white blood cells, and other substances. Sometimes they grow to block the arteries and sometimes they are small and do not effect the blood flow. A cap forms on top of the plaque to keep the contents from seeping into the bloodstream. These plaques can be quiet and not cause a problem. Occasionally, however, the cap on a plaque can rupture exposing its contents to the bloodstream. When this happens, the content of the plaque are mixed with the blood and can cause formation of a blood clot. If the blood clot blocks an important artery supplying blood to the heart, heart muscle can be suddenly deprived of vital oxygen and nutrients. At this point, every minute counts because heart muscle cannot survive long without receiving fresh blood. Within a relatively short period the damage to the
heart can be severe and permanent. This event is what doctors call myocardial infarction. Everyone else calls it a heart attack.

The symptoms of a heart attack are often similar to those of angina, but much worse and more persistant. The classic description of a heart attack is a crushing chest pain that does not go away, even after resting or taking angina medication. Other symptoms, which sometimes can even occur without chest pain, can include sweating, nausea, light headedness, and breathlessness. These symptoms are often confused with those caused by other much less serious conditions.

Here is the important thing to keep in mind: Don’t take chances. If you experience symptoms that may represent a heart attack, you should call an ambulance immediately and be brought to an emergency hospital; your survival may depend on it. It is natural to feel reluctant  to ask for help, and for many people it is embarrassing to call an ambulance. Also, heart attacks often do not start like they do in the movies, with crushing pain that causes you to clutch your chest. Uncertainty is quite common. but you should not wait to see whether your condition gets worse. This is the time to call 911.

As a general rule, doctors recommend that angina like discomfort that occurs without exertion or persists for more than ten minutes should be treated as a sign of a possible heart attack, even if more dramatic symptoms do not develop. The national heart, lung, and blood institute of the national institutes of health recommends that people should not wait more than five minutes before calling 911. Why the rush? Treatment, particularly in the first hour, can make an enormous difference in improving a person’s chance od survival. Unfortunatly, most people experiencing a heart attack wait much longer to seek help. According to experts, most people wait two or more hours before obtaining medical attention.

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When atherosclerosis is advanced, the flow of blood can be reduced enough that when the heart is asked to work harder than usual - for example,  when your exercising or climbing stairs, or simply eating a heavy meal , it can’t get the blood flow that it needs.

Typically, the heart signals that it is struggling by producing a feeling of chest discomfort, a condition that doctors call angina. Angina can take many forms; the sensations can include weakness, heaviness, pressure, tightness, and even pain in the middle of the chest. People with angina may also feel this discomfort at some distance from the heart - in the arms, abdomen, back, neck, and lower jaw. Angina is simply the hearts way of saying there is a mismatch between the oxygen rich blood flow it needs and what is actually arriving for it to use. Usually, if you have this symptom, the discomfort goes away when you stop whatever activity is causing your heart to work harder than usual. You should also know that not everyone has this feeling when there is a problem with blood flow to the heart, but it usually is an important signal when it occurs.

If you experience any symptoms in the list below, you should let your doctor know because they could be an indication of heart disease. These symptoms are not always caused by heart disease; they may be harmless or due to other medical conditions. But if you already have heart disease, these symptoms are enough to indicate a potential heart problem and reason enough for you to check with your doctor, especially if these symptoms are new.

Discomfort in your chest that comes on during physical exertion or emotional stress; it may spread to your arms, neck, lower jaw, face, back, or stomach. If this discomfort is from your heart, it is called “angina”.

Unusual breathlessness when doing light activity or when you are at rest can be a symptom of heart disease. Breathlessness that comes on suddenly may be an important warning sign.

Palpitation is the term used to describe the condition in which you feel your heart beat faster or more forcefully than usual, or an irregular pattern. Palpitations may be a symptom of heart disease, especially if the ylast for a few hours, if they come and go over several days, or if the ycause chest pain, breathlessness, or dizziness.

Fainting can be caused by inadequate oxygen reaching the brain, which may be due to heart disease.

Swelling or fluid retention is fluid buildup in your tissues. This usually happens arount the ankles, legs lungs, and abdomen. Swelling of the legs can be perfectly normal for some people after working many hours on their feet. However, it can also be a sign that the heart is not pumping efficiently.

Fatigue has many causes, but it’s worth seeing the doctor if you feel unusually tired, especially if it is combined with other suspicious symptoms noted above.

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The heart has the most significant function of pumping blood all over our bodies without which we cannot live, ensuring that one’s heart is in good shape and functional should always be on the #1 list.

However, sometimes one heart disease or the other creeps on us and by being able to recognize a heart disease symptom will save one’s life.

Heart Attack Symptoms

The heart disease symptom that is connected to heart attack is easier to read than other diseases but at the same time it can get confusing; if you are not sure of any one symptom, check with your doctor right away.

- Pain, fullness and/or squeezing sensation of the chest
- Jaw pain, toothache, headache
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea, vomiting and/or general upper middle abdomen discomfort
- Sweating profusely
- Heartburn and/or indigestion
- Arm pain – more commonly left arm but sometimes the right arm as well
- Upper back pain
- General feeling of being unwell

One or more of these symptoms can occur at the same time depending from person to person where as several may have no symptoms what so ever. Knowing to be familiar with the heart disease symptom is not easy and time and again it might lead to be just a false alarm however never ignore any symptom – it’s better to be too careful than sorry.

Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms

The symptoms associated with coronary heart disease are pronounced such as:

- Chest pain or angina – is the most frequent heart disease symptom related to coronary disease however, the intensity of pain might change from person to person
- Shortness of breath – this is a usual symptom of congestive heart failure; the heart is usually very weak at this point from lack of blood and oxygen and/or from a past heart attack

Heart disease symptom recognizing is usually hard as many of these symptoms can be caused by many other diverse factors as well; this is probably one of the main causes why several people walk in emergency rooms sometimes too late to be able to be helped.

If you are faced with any kind of doubt about a heart disease symptom that you could have, check with your doctor as soon as possible in order to avoid a disaster.

Your health is the most significant possession, learn to listen to your heart and protect yourself from any heart disease by conducting regular check ups, eating healthy and exercising as much as possible.

A person can have heart disease and not feel something is wrong. Several people with heart disease have symptoms. This is when there are changes or pain in the body to show a disease is there. Some symptoms of heart disease are:

Pain in chest
Trouble breathing
Palpitations (a feeling that the heart is beating too fast, too hard, or not regular)
Swelling of feet or legs
Feeling weak (not strong)
Cyanosis (blue color of skin

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