From our health desk, Benin
Dr. Jeremy London is a heart surgeon and a heart attack survivor.
He operates on diseased hearts, but like many people, he ignored his own symptoms of a coronary artery blockage until it became an emergency.
“I absolutely knew better, but didn’t do better — even in a scenario that I knew was very dangerous,” London, who practices in Savannah, Georgia, tells TODAY.com.
“We’re all humans and no one is immune to trying to intellectualize your symptoms or in some way, convince yourself that it’s something else — even someone as intimately involved with this on a day-to-day basis as I am.”
In early December 2022, he kept feeling what he thought was acid reflux whenever he walked up the stairs at his home. The sensation went away when he sat down. London also broke out in a sweat and didn’t feel well when he went to walk his dogs.
That night, he experienced “crushing chest pain,” but it went away, so he just took an aspirin and a beta blocker. London was still in denial that it could be a heart attack.
“I eat right. I exercise all the time. My lab markers are all good. Like, come on, this can’t be. It’s not possible,” he recalls thinking."
But when the chest pain returned the next morning as he went upstairs, London finally told his wife and went to the hospital. He’d ignored his symptoms for 24 hours.
London had a 99 percent blockage in his right coronary artery, which cut off blood flow to his heart muscle. It required doctors to widen the artery and insert a stent.
“I had really mismanaged the whole situation because I didn’t pay attention to my body,” London says. “It was really an eye opener for me.”
Dr. Jeremy London (Courtesy Dr. Jeremy London)
"We all need to do a better job of taking responsibility for our own bodies and our own health care. And where does that start? By listening to your bodies," Dr. Jeremy London says.
He wants others not to make the same mistake, so he recorded a TikTok listing heart symptoms not to ignore. He expanded the list in an interview with TODAY.com.
Some of these warning signs may indicate a blockage; others could signal heart failure or a problem with heart valves.
Crushing chest pain
Severe chest pain that radiates to the arm or the jaw and doesn’t go away should be an emergency 911 phone call, London says.
This is a classic symptom of a heart attack often shown in movies and TV dramas, but other warning signs can be more subtle, especially in women.
Chest pressure
It can feel like a tightness in the chest more than true pain. Some people describe it as an elephant sitting on their chest.
Chest pressure, whether it’s with activity or at rest, should be evaluated — it may indicate a blockage or valve disease, London says.
In general, symptoms like chest pain or tightness that reliably show up when you exert yourself and go away with rest are a “very powerful indicator of cardiac disease,” London cautions.
That’s because if you stress the heart when there’s a blockage, the heart muscle below it becomes blood starved.
But when you sit down and allow your heart rate to come down, the oxygen demand is less so the pain or tightness goes away, he explains.
Shortness of breath
This is about feeling breathless or fatigued out of proportion to the activity.
So experiencing shortness of breath when walking to your mailbox, taking the garbage out or climbing a flight of stairs, London says. Some people feel exhausted after taking a shower.
That could indicate a blockage that’s not severe enough to cause chest pain yet or a blocked heart valve, he notes.
Feeling short of breath after routine activities is also a symptom of heart failure, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Lung disease could be another reason, so doctors may order an echocardiogram and stress test to find out if it’s the heart that’s causing this symptom.
Lightheadedness or almost passing out
Feeling like you’re going to pass out when standing up or doing minimal activity is a very dangerous sign of aortic stenosis — a narrowing of the aortic valve opening, London says.
These symptoms can also be associated with coronary heart disease or abnormal heart rhythms and are a red flag that should be evaluated, he notes.
Inability to lie flat and breathe comfortably
This can be an indicator of heart failure. When the heart is unable to pump efficiently, fluid can build up in the lungs, which can make it difficult to breathe. That sensation typically gets worse when a person lies down, London says.
Swollen legs
Heart failure can also cause leg swelling as fluid backs up in the body.
“People take off their socks and they’ve got this deep ring around their ankles and it doesn’t go away when they elevate their legs,” London says.
“There are lots of reasons that legs can swell, but this is a reason for evaluation.”
Bottom line: Pay attention to your body and get any troubling or unusual symptoms checked out.
"If you go to the doctor and it’s all fine, that’s great. That’s the best possible news," London says.
"It’s also good news if you uncover something that requires intervention that could potentially save your life."
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
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