Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in many countries globally. Heart disease refers to a range of issues that affects the heart and can be classified into several types, such as coronary artery disease, heart arrythmias, heart failure and heart valve disease, among others.
Heart disease continues to put a strain on the healthcare system and continues to rob the country of its valuable human resource, whose lives are cut short. Research has shown that approximately 30 per cent of deaths per year in Jamaica are caused by heart disease.
While this is a common health issue globally, not manly people can tell that they have heart disease from an early stage.
A 73-year-old woman, a heart disease patient who wished to remain nameless, told Our Today that she experienced her first symptom of heart disease at age 16.
“I got up one morning and realised that I was bleeding from the nose. I just kept bleeding and bleeding. I went to the doctor. The doctor that I went to diagnosed me with malaria and I found myself in the hospital for three weeks. I went to several doctors; they all told me my heart was in good condition and no surgery was needed,” she said.
She added that, even after making several visits to cardiologists, she still did not know what was the cause of the symptoms she was experiencing.
“I always checked with a cardiologist, and they tell me same thing every time. ‘Your heart is in good shape’, ‘You won’t need any medication’, ‘You won’t need any treatment and certainly not surgery’,” she said.
However, the heart patient outlined that it was not until she fell ill with rheumatic fever that she found out she had heart disease.
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that affects the heart and joints and is caused when strep throat or scarlet fever is not properly treated.
Causes of heart disease
Dr Marilyn Lawrence-Wright, head of cardiology at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and consultant cardiologist at the Heart Foundation of Jamaica, noted that obesity, diabetes and eating habits are risk factors for heart disease.
She said: “Most of the times when we speak of heart disease and heart attack, we think that it would be for people who are like 70 years and up but now we are seeing young people, 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds with these signs of heart disease. For some of them it may be because they are overweight or they have diabetes, they have high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. As populations tend to get more overweight and more obese, we find those diseases in younger people.”
Lawrence-Wright noted that, while cardiologists are now diagnosing more young people with heart disease, it is most common among persons who are 50 years and older.
She also noted that excessive alcohol intake, stress and sleep apnea, a sleep disorder in which breathing starts and stops, are contributing factors to heart disease.
“Stress does affect the heart, I’m not going to say it cause heart disease, but it certainly can cause people to have unhealthy lifestyle practices. Whether the person is sedentary, smoking or drinking excess alcohol, not sleeping at night, those are the things that can bring on heart disease,” the heart expert outlined.
Signs and symptoms
The cardiologist also outlined that some of the most common signs of heart disease include chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, palpitations and dizziness.
“Some common signs are chest pain or chest discomfort; it doesn’t have to pain, it can just be a discomfort feeling, sometimes its burning, sometimes its pressing. Many times, people think of it as being on the left side of your chest, that’s where the heart is located, but it can be anywhere in the chest,” she said.
Preventative measures
The health official urged Jamaican to get screened for heart disease because it can affect the quality of life of many.
She noted that “heart disease is real, it kills, it can decrease your quality of life, because some people, especially those who have heart failure, they may not die suddenly but it affects what they can do on a daily basis”.
She also encouraged people to become sensitised on the different steps to take in the case of a heart emergency.
“I would encourage people to learn what to do in an emergency. Maybe the emergency is not you, it could be a family member or a neighbour, but you need to know what to do. You need to know that something like an aspirin can be used, you should chew an aspirin if you’re having a heart attack. Everybody should know the basics,” she noted.
The heart specialist further charged Jamaicans to take responsibility for their heart health by promoting healthy lifestyles such as having a healthy diet and participating in physical activity.
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