The first signs of heart failure in men: symptoms of acute and chronic forms

Heart failure in men manifests itself unexpectedly, since the symptoms of the disease in the initial stages, due to the physiology of the male body, are difficult to diagnose and are hidden. Often the disease is discovered only after a heart attack. Knowing the symptoms of heart failure in men means preventing irreversible processes in the patient’s body. When sudden, sharp pain in the chest occurs, sometimes there is only 1-2 minutes left to make the right decision, provide emergency assistance to the patient and save his life.

How dangerous is this pathology?

Heart failure (HF) is the “silent killer” of men, because the stronger half of humanity more often suffers from this pathology. The disease is complex and is not an independent heart disease, therefore it is called a clinical syndrome. HF is formed as a result of pathological changes in the functioning of the cardiovascular and circulatory systems.

The operation of a human “engine” is similar to the operation of a pump that pumps oxygenated blood through the vessels. The myocardium, or heart muscle, contracts rhythmically, propelling it along the microvasculature. Thanks to this function of the heart muscle, blood can move freely, against gravity, through the veins located in the lower half of the body. When the pumping function of the heart in the organs and vascular bed is disrupted, the tissues are no longer saturated with the required amount of vitamins and oxygen. The heart muscle loses its ability to supply blood to organs and tissues, and blood stagnates in the abdomen and lower extremities. Heart failure develops.

Is it possible to prevent the development of heart failure?

Cardiac pain that occurs with heart failure cannot be avoided, but the development of the disease can be prevented and delayed by following simple rules:

1. Monitor your blood pressure. A common cause of heart failure in men is hypertension.
2. You need to monitor your cholesterol levels. You cannot eat “harmful” food (“fast food”) and live “on sandwiches alone.” Fish, legumes (lentils, peas, beans), nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables are the best prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
3. Quit smoking, drugs, alcohol abuse.
4. Do exercises and exercise regularly. When performing exercises, metabolic processes improve, blood circulation increases, which means the heart muscle is trained, increasing the body's endurance and quality of life. It should be remembered that physical activity should be moderate, preferably under the supervision of a cardiologist.
5. It is important to change your lifestyle, paying attention to healthy sleep and your psycho-emotional state.

Treatment and prevention of the disease

To prevent heart disease, you should stop drinking alcohol and drugs, and stop smoking. To do this, you can take advantage of the state program to combat smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction and visit the nearest drug treatment center. Each drug dispensary has rooms for free and anonymous consultation of citizens on chemical dependency issues. To avoid becoming one of the sad statistics of those affected by heart disease, you should adhere to the following recommendations:

• exercise;
• choose suitable methods of relaxation for yourself, enough hours of sleep and rest;
• do not overwork, avoid chronic stress;
• contact a cardiologist on time;
• engage in any physical activity to keep your heart in shape.

Heart failure is easier to prevent than to cure. Most often, victims of this disease are prescribed the following:

• medicines to normalize blood pressure and heart rate;
• medications to reduce swelling;
• surgery to install a pacemaker or defibrillator;
• surgery to replace a valve or restore vascular patency.

Patients with coronary heart disease and other diseases in which there is a high risk of heart failure should be especially attentive to their condition. To relieve your heart, you must follow these recommendations:

• give up drugs, alcohol and cigarettes;
• engage in physical therapy as prescribed by a cardiologist;
• normalize weight;
• find out what causes high or low blood pressure and try to eliminate this cause;
• reduce salt intake, since salt provokes edema, including pulmonary edema.

All patients with heart disease need to refrain from extreme stress, follow a diet and lead a measured lifestyle. The early mortality of men from heart attacks is caused precisely by the fact that they are irresponsible about their health, do not want to change jobs to a calmer one and stop drinking alcohol. Statistics on mortality from heart attacks will help motivate a man for treatment - heart attacks are in first place in the number of deaths, ahead of even lung cancer and colon cancer.

Heart failure is diagnosed in men as often as in women. This pathology is not considered a separate disease, but a complex disorder, which, when it enters an advanced stage, affects the functioning of the entire organism as a whole. In heart failure, the muscle responsible for moving blood through the vessels becomes incompetent and, as a result, there is a deficiency in the supply of the required volume of blood to organs and tissues.

The insidiousness of this pathology lies in the fact that the first signs of heart failure are rather weakly expressed, only short attacks are observed in the complete absence of negative manifestations at other times.

Symptoms of left ventricular failure

To prevent the development of left ventricular failure, you need to pay attention to the following symptoms:

1. When performing sports exercises with increased load, shortness of breath occurs. Moreover, in the later stages of the development of the disease, shortness of breath appears when the patient does not perform any exercise at all, and then in a lying position. The peculiarity of this shortness of breath: it does not go away in an upright position, therefore it often provokes the development of cardiac asthma. This distinguishes it from orthopnea.
2. A dry cough, sometimes with mucous sputum, accompanies shortness of breath.
3. Problems with urination (nocturia, and in later stages - oliguria) at night.
4. Tachycardia and respiratory failure may occur.
5. In the early stages - memory impairment, in the later stages of the disease - hallucinations, especially in older people. Delirium is rarely observed.
6. The skin turns pale and feels cold to the touch.

Symptoms of right ventricular failure

Right ventricular failure has the following symptoms:

1. Severe swelling appears. Initially, the abdominal cavity, hips, and lower back swell; sometimes swelling of the arms is noticeable. But the swelling mainly spreads below. Therefore, if a person has severe swelling in their legs, they should immediately consult a doctor.
2. The liver enlarges, so the patient feels significant heaviness in the hypochondrium area.
3. Possible accumulation of fluid in the pleural or abdominal cavities.
4. Due to poor blood supply to the capillaries, a bluish tint of the skin appears (accrocyanosis).
5. Appetite decreases. This is a consequence of congestive gastritis against the background of heart failure. Usually there is pain in the stomach and nausea, as a result of which the patient is unable to swallow medications.
6. The veins of the neck are inflated, the pathology is especially noticeable when inhaling.

There are two types of heart failure: acute and chronic.

Primary right ventricular failure does not have pronounced symptoms. Secondary right ventricular failure is a consequence of many diseases and has a different etiology. This type of pathology causes acute heart failure.

The degree of pathology depends on the speed of development of the syndrome. Chronic heart failure in men is dangerous because it occurs latently over many years, and a man may not even be aware of this dangerous illness. And usually the stronger sex tries not to attach importance to the first signs of illness and does not take them seriously.

Symptoms of the disease

Symptoms of heart failure in men are determined primarily by impaired myocardial function. Due to weakness of the heart muscle, an accumulation of congestion is observed, which causes pathological processes in the organ. In order to diagnose the disease before life-threatening signs appear, a man should pay attention to the development of the following symptoms:

• severe swelling of the lower extremities;
• constant fatigue;
• the appearance of pain in the left hand;
• development of cardiac arrhythmia;
• the occurrence of pain in the back of the head;
• frequent dizziness;
• fast fatiguability;
• a feeling of heaviness in the legs;
• staining the skin of the fingers, nose, chin and ears blue;
• a constantly disturbing cough, especially during periods of physical activity;
• attacks of nausea and vomiting;
• enlarged veins in the neck area;
• decreased or complete lack of appetite for many dishes.

In most cases, such symptoms arise already in the stagnant phase, when the pathology becomes chronic (CHF).
In such a situation, the risk of various complications increases, so the patient should undergo regular medical examination. Problems with blood circulation cause the accumulation of increased amounts of fluid in a man’s body, and the result is tissue swelling and excess weight. It should be understood that even the appearance of the most insignificant symptoms at first glance may signal not the initial stage of development of the pathology, but an advanced one. It is for this reason that it is necessary to seek advice from a specialist as soon as possible.

How does acute heart failure manifest in men?

Acute heart failure in men occurs suddenly as a result of disturbances in the circulatory system due to a sharp decrease in myocardial contractions. This happens due to overload of the heart muscle, its overwork.

The causes of acute heart failure are:

• heart defects;
• arterial hypertension;
• myocarditis;
• acute myocardial infarction;
• bradyarrhythmic abnormalities;
• heart injury.

This pathology can also be caused by non-cardiac causes:

• cerebral stroke;
• psycho-emotional stress, shock;
• severe injuries and massive burns;
• obesity;
• diseases of the respiratory tract (bronchial asthma, pneumonia), sepsis;
• poisoning with toxic substances, poisons, salts of heavy metals;
• surgical operations;
• diabetes mellitus;
• renal failure;
• taking certain medications (non-steroids and corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory drugs);
• dysfunction of the thyroid gland;
• overdose of drugs and alcohol.

An impending heart attack in acute heart failure in men is characterized by symptoms:

1. Burning, squeezing or pressing pain in the chest is the first sign of an impending attack. Sometimes the pain is felt in the left shoulder blade or left arm, radiating to the jaw or neck. In the early stages, it manifests itself as minor discomfort, so men simply do not pay attention to this symptom.
2. Shortness of breath appears. This symptom is also common and typical. Breathing during an attack becomes difficult, rapid and shallow. The patient has an acute feeling that he “cannot breathe”, so a comfortable position for him is vertical. I would like to constantly stand at the window and breathe in fresh air, but it is not easy to breathe in the air, so the patient feels very anxious. This type of shortness of breath is called “orthopnea.”
3. The pulse quickens, an irregular and rapid heartbeat appears, sweating increases, accompanied by severe weakness, fatigue, and a feeling of “weakness.”
4. The legs swell, primarily the feet, less often the calves. Sometimes swelling occurs in the arms, more often in the hands. This symptom occurs because angiotensin II and renin begin to be intensively produced due to a sharp decrease in blood circulation. Aldosterone is produced faster, the kidneys begin to reabsorb sodium and water, some sodium remains in the blood, the vessels cannot cope with the load, and fluid accumulates.

Swelling is clearly visible in the evening, when it is impossible to put your feet even in slippers, your hands become so swollen that a wedding ring, for example, begins to dig into the skin and cannot be removed, and traces of the elastic bands of socks remain. If, after pressing on the swollen area, the skin does not return to its original position, but the depression remains, it means that a heart attack is approaching.

1. The patient can quickly gain weight: up to 1 kg per day, up to 1.5-2 kg over the course of a week.
2. Nausea appears and loss of appetite is noted. This happens when fluid accumulates in the abdominal cavity: processes in the digestive system are disrupted, resulting in a feeling of nausea. Men tend to explain this by any disease and categorically refuse to accept the fact that this symptom indicates the need to help the heart.
3. There is a cough and gurgling wheezing, with possible regurgitation of pink sputum.

At the time of an attack, acute heart failure is characterized by the following symptoms:

1. Heart failure in men usually occurs while sleeping at night. When sensations of acute lack of air appear, the patient feels the fear of death and abruptly wakes up.
2. At the beginning of the attack, the skin turns pale, gradually acquiring a blue color.
3. Sweating increases sharply.
4. A dry cough appears, making breathing difficult.
5. Breathing quickens. When a dry cough occurs, swelling of the veins in the neck is observed. A dry cough is accompanied by the production of foamy, pink or bloody sputum. This is a characteristic sign of developing pulmonary edema.
6. At the time of the attack, wheezing, gurgling breaths are noted along with a dry cough. Breathing increases so much that it reaches 40-60 breaths per minute. At the peak of the attack, with weakening of vesicular breathing, moist rales are heard in the lungs. Heart failure in some patients may occur without moist rales, while in another category of patients, on the contrary, whistling dry rales may be heard. This occurs due to the fact that during an attack, bronchial spasm develops, causing circulatory disorders.
7. Frequent arrhythmia, pulse with dull heart sounds are the main signs of disorders in the circulatory system that appear during an attack.
8. Dizziness occurs, the ability to concentrate decreases, and the patient loses balance. This symptom is a result of “oxygen starvation” of the brain.

Rarely, an attack of acute heart failure lasts only a few minutes and can end on its own, without medical intervention.

But, as a rule, the attack is prolonged and requires long-term treatment.

Acute heart failure is a very serious pathology, since the consequences of an attack are irreversible. The most severe complications are caused by pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock, which often lead to death. Already by the first signs you can determine an impending heart attack and save a person’s life.

How to help yourself during an attack

If an attack begins and there is no strength to reach the medicine, the patient has only 60-120 seconds to save himself. The first thing to do is cough! Cough as often and as hard as possible, trying to inhale the air more deeply. Air flows will “massage” the heart, accelerating blood circulation. The attack will not subside, but the patient will be able to gain time until the ambulance arrives.

We suggest you read: Chronic heart failure, right ventricular failure

The symptoms of attacks, if we take into account women and men, are different. In the female body, problems with heart function appear a little later than in men. This is explained by the fact that their body is protected by nature itself, since a woman still needs to give birth to children. Upon reaching 50–55 years of age, menopause occurs; during this period, the risk increases several times.

When reaching the age of 60–65 years, the female body is at risk in the same way as the male. Another feature is that men are able to tolerate the disease more easily than women. For this reason, it is important to identify symptoms and get treatment early.

Symptoms of the disease in representatives of the stronger sex manifest themselves in the following way:

• increased sweating;
• pain in the neck on the left side;
• in the form of pain in the left shoulder, arm or jaw;
• pressing pain in the chest area;
• shortness of breath.

Neck pain

It is worth noting that pain in the chest area in women can mean not only heart problems. As for the same symptoms in the male body, almost 90% of cases are heart problems.

Initially, a heart attack may manifest itself as follows:

• in the form of arrhythmia;
• dizziness;
• manifestation of cough;
• burning sensation in the chest area;
• indigestion;
• nausea and vomiting;
• weakness;
• sudden fatigue.

Timely assistance can save the patient’s health, eliminating death.