Dizziness when standing up quickly, difficulty bending down, and shortness of breath are the top danger signs you should never ignore when it comes to your heart health, a leading cardiologist has warned.
A poll of 2,000 adults found that half have suffered heart-related symptoms before – with 11% experiencing tightness in their chest, while a fifth said they felt dizzy after standing up too quickly.
But one in four (26%) didn't consider these things to be “serious” – with 54% not realising they could be associated with poor heart health.
Other top symptoms you should always get checked out include palpitations, swollen legs, heaviness or pain in the arms when exerted.
Consultant cardiologist Dr Ameet Bakhai, from London's Spire Bushey Hospital, said these are all indicators that your heart is not adapting to your positions, or is holding spare fluid in the body, and needs attention.
Dr Ameet Bakhai, who has a special interest in research into how lifestyle factors can impact cardiac health and how we can prevent this, also revealed an adult with a healthy heart should be able to run up two flights of stairs without getting out of breath and squat on a toilet, providing they have no other health conditions.
Similarly, a healthy adult should be able to hold their breath comfortably for 20 seconds.
Dr Ameet, who has been advising Healthspan's Love Your Heart supplement range, which commissioned the research, said: “We often ignore our heart health and it’s signals until it’s too late.
"There’s no annual MOT to be passed for most of us, so we ignore the small signals that our own engine is not performing ideally.
“Heart issues can often get progressively worse, until one day you have a more complicated issue – that could have been avoided if you'd heeded the warning signs.
“Heart issues can be connected to other things – you might consider not being able to run up two flights of stairs more of a lung condition or a lack of fitness or of weight gain, but there is a lot of overlap with coronary artery disease or heart valve problems or irregular heart rhythms.
“So, looking after your heart health is essential and should be planned as a new year resolution every year.”
But a third think such symptoms could be from a number of different things –and, worryingly, 17% didn’t raise these issues with other people because they didn’t want to be seen as melodramatic.
And 13% consider themselves simply too young to have heart issues.
But Dr Bakhai added: “This is sadly a misunderstanding as heart disease can affect people of all ages, particularly in the era of Covid and beyond as the virus can attack the heart and the heart lining quite commonly as a condition called myopericarditis (inflamed heart and heart covering – the pericardium).
"Warning signs like chest tightness, aches in your arms or jaw, dizziness on standing, and breathlessness with bending down should act like a wake-up call that your heart is calling out for help.
"Becoming heart aware is vital and more than half of those in the survey were not aware that if they partner had suffered a cardiac episode in the last five years it was highly likely that their risk factors are also increased due to parallel lifestyles.”
A quarter of those polled said they had medical conditions, such as high blood pressure, while 20% said they had high cholesterol.
It also emerged 72% have never seen a medical professional about heart conditions.
Despite this, 68% of all adults consider heart health "very important" to them – rising to 80% of those aged over 65.
When it comes to overall health, 42% admitted they have days where they don’t get the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables.
While 37% don’t get enough sleep, 35% confess to eating junk food on occasion, and 14% are current cigarettes smokers.
As a result, 51% admit they need to do more to keep their hearts in tip-top condition, according to the OnePoll figures.
Rob Hobson, registered and sports nutritionist with Healthspan, said: “These results show a bit of a contradiction between what people do, and what they’re doing for their heart health.
"Millions know heart health is vitally important yet ignore warning signs and do heart-unfriendly things like eating junk food, smoking and the survey showed people are trying to make changes but there is a clear lack of knowledge.
"Simple dietary changes and supporting dietary gaps with heart-specific supplements, such as Love Your Heart, can all make a difference over time, and over half of those asked are conscious they need to keep their heart healthy but knew little about what supplements to take to help them.”
10 HEART HEALTH SYMPTOMS BRITS HAVE HAD – AND NOT ALWAYS INVESTIGATED:
- Dizziness on standing up quickly
- Shortness of breath
- Difficulty bending down
- Palpitations
- Tightness of the chest
- Arm pain - neck or upper arms often the left
- Difficulty standing up
- Chest discomfort (excluding tightness)
- Swollen legs
- Frequent extra or skipped heartbeats
