Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms in Men

Did you know that more than 14 million people in the United States of America suffer from coronary heart disease? And not only this, statistics reveal that maximum Americans die due to this condition every year! Shocking isn't it? Therefore, it becomes extremely important for one to be able to identify the symptoms of this disease in the initial stages itself to prevent further complications..., or an early death. Speaking of the symptoms, the coronary heart disease symptoms in men are quite different from those in women. In fact, statistics show that coronary heart disease is more common in the elderly and the males as compared to women of the same of age. But what exactly is coronary heart disease? Well, we all are aware of the fact that our heart is busy pumping blood for our body, even before we are born! For this, it needs adequate oxygen rich blood supply which is possible through the coronary arteries which are found from the base of our aorta and spreading all across the heart. However, due to excessive deposits of plaque in the coronary arteries, they start becoming narrow, therefore being unable to supply adequate amount of blood to the heart. The flow of the blood is slowed down and therefore the person suffers from coronary artery disease resulting in symptoms like chest pain and eventually leading to a heart attack, if proper attention is not given.

Symptoms of Coronary Heart Disease in Men

As mentioned earlier, the symptoms in men are quite different from the symptoms in women. For example, while most men would feel chest pain as a symptom, women on the other hand may feel more fatigue and weakness. In fact, studies show that men who are in their 40s have higher risk of developing a CHD as compared to women. So what are the symptoms in men that can indicate the presence of this ailment. Let us have a look!

• Angina (Chest pain and discomfort as if something heavy is placed on your chest and squeezing your chest)
• Burning sensation in the chest
• Tightness in the chest
• Numbness in the chest
• Shortness of breath
• Rapid heartbeat
• Irregular heartbeats
• Sweating
• Chest pain and discomfort can also spread all the way to the arm, back, shoulder and even the jaws.
• Nausea
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Dizziness

The severity of these symptoms depends upon the severity of the condition. Take the symptom of angina for example, if a person has stable angina, then you can expect that the aforementioned symptoms will arise while you exert yourself physically, like when exercising. Because the body needs more blood, the heart expects the coronary arteries to supply more blood. But because of the cholesterol deposits in the arteries, the narrowed arteries are unable to do so, thereby causing discomfort and pain in the chest along with other symptoms. However, an unstable angina can lead to appearance of these symptoms anytime. Even while sleeping or relaxing. This condition, if left untreated can result into formation of blood clots in the arteries, thereby resulting into a heart attack. Therefore, one must also take extra precautions and care in observing what your body is signifying through the aforementioned symptoms and signs.

Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors

Have you ever wondered as to why only some families or people are more prone to heart diseases and not others? The risk factors may include something right from our genes to our current lifestyle. Unfortunately, CHD is becoming more and more common in the world. Therefore, educating ourselves about the risk factors can help us safeguard ourselves in a better way from this chronic ailment.

• Alcoholism
• Smoking
• Diabetes
• Obesity / overweight
• Fatty or high cholesterol diet
• Inactive lifestyle
• Family history of the disease
• Taking too much stress
• High blood pressure
• Peripheral artery disease
• Excess fat around the waist
• Chronic kidney disease
• Men over the age of 40 and women over the age of 50 are more prone to CHD
• Metabolic syndrome
• Insulin resistance
• Sleep apnea

Coronary Heart Disease Treatment

Coronary heart disease is a chronic ailment. Nevertheless, if you can identify yourself with the aforementioned symptoms, then you must get yourself checked with a health care specialist as soon as possible. Your doctor will perform various tests on you including magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), computerized tomography (CT) scan, coronary catherterization, stress test, electrocardiogram (ECG) and Echocardiogram. Based on the reports of these tests, your doctor will then advice you certain medications and lifestyle alterations in order to keep the condition under control. The medications may include aspirin, in order to thin the blood and prevent blood clots; beta blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) to decrease the blood pressure and minimize the chances of a heart attack; medications to lower the cholesterol levels in the blood and opening up the blocked arteries. If medications cannot control the ailment, then surgical procedures are also used for effective treatment. These may include an angioplasty or a coronary artery bypass surgery.

So this was a brief information about the coronary heart disease symptoms, risk factors, and treatment. It would be better to prevent it in the first place instead of going for a long term treatment. The first and foremost step that you need to take towards the prevention of coronary heart disease is to bring a massive change in your lifestyle. If you do have some of the aforementioned risk factors, like obesity or family history for the ailment, that means you should wake up with an alarm and start shedding the extra pounds with a healthy, low fat and low cholesterol diet. Also you must make sure that you do not take stress at all as it doubles the chances of developing a heart disease. Quitting habits like smoking and drinking is also a must! It is also said that consumption of fish and fish oil along with other sources of omega 3 fatty acids like flax seed oil can also help improve the condition of the heart. I believe educating yourself about the possibilities and risk factors is a big step towards minimizing the number of people suffering from coronary heart disease. After all, knowledge is the ultimate source of prevention. Right?