Five warning signs of early heart failure - experts recommend using the FACES acronym
Could your heart muscle be struggling to pump blood around your body? A "handy" tool could be helpful in determining whether you need medical advice.
The signs and symptoms of heart failure
There is a general tendency for people to ignore heart failure symptoms and attribute them to just getting older, according to Dr Mandeep R Mehra.
The medical director of the Heart and Vascular Center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital said: "Therefore, it was very important for us to create an easy way to identify those symptoms."
As part of the Heart Failure Society of America, Dr Mehra and colleagues developed a tool to help both doctors and patients quickly spot a possible combination of heart failure symptoms using the acronym FACES.
FACES
- F - Fatigue.
- A - Activity limitation.
- C - Congestion.
- E - Edema.
- S - Shortness of breath.
Fatigue, a term used to describe a general feeling of tiredness, sets in when the heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood to meet the body's energy needs.
Activity limitation means a person is unable to do their normal activities, normally because of tiredness and shortness of breath.
Congestion refers to fluid build-up in the lungs, resulting in coughing, wheezing, and breathing difficulty.
Edema (in British, oedema) occurs when the heart doesn't have enough pumping power to force blood back up from the lower extremities; this results in swollen ankles, legs, thighs and abdomen.
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Shortness of breath is self-explanatory, but it may be caused by a build-up of fluid in the lungs.
Dr Mehra said these signs by themselves do not confirm a diagnosis of heart failure, but they do suggest you need to seek medical advice.
The NHS says: "Heart failure is a long-term condition that tends to get gradually worse over time.
"It cannot usually be cured, but the symptoms can often be controlled for many years."
Health conditions that can lead to heart failure include:
- Coronary heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Arrhythmias
- Congenital heart disease
- Overactive thyroid
- Obesity
- Anaemia.
Treatment for heart failure can be a combination of lifestyle changes, medication, and surgery.
Heart failure "can severely limit the activities you're able to do and is often eventually fatal", the NHS cautions.
If you identify with any of the symptoms of heart failure, book a doctor's appointment as soon as possible.