Written By: Satata Karmakar | Published : June 7, 2022 10:46 AM IST
Is It A Heart Disease Or Digestive Disorders? Here's How To Differentiate Symptoms
In this 21st century, we all live a very hectic and busy life, and thanks to the pandemic for tossing it upside down completely. From stress to isolation, certain add ons to our lives in the recent pandemic times, have given rise to serious health issues. Last week, a famous Indian playback singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK died of a heart attack. According to the police, antacid strips were found in his hotel room. This gives rise to the question if he had been taking symptoms of heart attack as a gastric problem. Today, we have Dr Inayathullah Ghori, Consultant (Clinical Cardiology) - Kamineni Hospital, King Koti to tell us how the two are different and how one can differentiate the symptoms.
Severe symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, and palpitations are well understood by most of us as possibly heart-related however heart conditions also present with much more varied symptoms and of varying intensity. Although public apprehension is drawn when a celebrity or a well-known person suffers a heart attack with atypical symptoms - doctors commonly come across such clinical caveats.
Looking at some example caveats can give us more insight:
Before we understand general principles on how to identify atypical symptoms a word first on - why do we need to identify these symptoms early? Heart attack is a condition where a clot clogs the blood vessels that supply the heart causing damage to the heart muscle - in the initial hours of the attack the damage can be not be limited and also be reversed but with delay, the damage is not only irreversible but also leads to more complications such as low pumping capacity and heart failure.
How does one know whether the cause of discomfort is gastric or cardiac? The tell-tale differences to ask are:
In case of any doubt or concern, it is always recommended that the patient visit the emergency department of any nearby hospital where he/she can be evaluated. Timely intervention can drastically change their son's condition and life.
