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How To Know The Condition Of My Heart

By: Annie Lavery

Break Studios Contributing Writer

Many men and women want to know how to know the condition of my heart? At some point in time, you start to worry about the condition your heart is in. Your heart pumps blood throughout your body several times a day. When you start to have heart problems, your health can go downhill fairly quickly and sometimes without warning until it's to late. There are a few signs and symptoms that can alert you to a heart condition and when this happens, you should seek medical attention. Listed below are a few signs and symptoms on how to know the condition of your heart that will help you to determine if you should seek medical help.

 

  1. Your heart skips a beat. Some men and women have irregular heart beats that skip and return to normal beating. If this continues for more then a couple of weeks, you need to have it checked by your physician to ensure nothing else is going on and to find out what is causing the skip to occur.
  2. Shortness of breath. If you mow grass or walk a short distance and you become out of breath, you may have a heart problem going on. It is a sign of heart failure in many people. When heart failure occurs, it causes fluid to back up into your lungs due to the heart not pumping like it should. If this is persistent and continues, you need to seek medical help right away. Another sign of fluid build up is rapid weight gain.
  3. Other signs that may lead you to think you have a heart problem include loss of appetite, pain or swelling of the abdomen, fatigue, a cough that gets worse and needing more pillows to sleep better at night. Other signs may be waking during the night because you feel as though you can't breathe and swelling in your legs and your ankles.

Some people may not even have these signs and symptoms to warn them of a heart condition. If you have pain in your chest along with pain or numbness in your arm, seek medical help fast. This is a sign of a heart attack.

Posted on: Sep. 15, 2010