In daily medical practice,
it is not uncommon to hear some words or sentences trying to explain feelings
and symptoms described by our patients. Whatever their approach, they help us figure out what goes underneath with respects to the basic
ailments.
Besides the classical SOB
shortness of breath, chest pain or squeezing, we very often watch our patients mentioning some rapid weight gain, due most of the time to
fluid retention related to some impaired renal function. Mental confusion,
impaired thinking, disorientation ensue as blood flow is reducing at the brain level. There also exists some incapacity for the feet to
fit the shoes because of ankle and feet
swelling. French authors note the current spoon shaped nails
of people with heart failure condition while noticing “crackles sounds”
at the base of the lungs heard at the stethoscope. Coughing is common as well
as blood tainted sputum. Some people
wake up at night all of a sudden gasping for air. This is the classical PND. They
happen to need more pillows to rest upon
and breathe better. Sometimes, they have to sit down to at the edge of their beds. This position is
called orthopnea. Many doctors used to diagnose at distance this heart condition nothing but by watching the way these patients try to cope with their
air hunger.
More, we learn from these
patients how cold they feel. Even though at rest, they keep sweating, are
unable to exercise even by holding a piece of paper between their fingers. They
feel
exhausted even on walking by their bed.
Put shortly, hidden signs of
heart failure imply gastro intestinal symptoms such as abdominal discomfort,
loss of appetite and nausea, simulate urinary disorders because people with
this condition urinate a lot at night, have also pulmonary symptoms caused by
the blood backing up into the lungs, hence the pinkish sputum. Some patients
may have heart attacks without any symptom. This is the silent myocardial
infarction, the silent killer associated
sometimes with diabetes, let alone chest pain
spreading at the shoulder, jaws, neck, elbows and the back
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