Heartache over the heart

The heart or more "problems" with it, are THE most frequently questioned bodily sensations experienced by health anxiety sufferers.

Of course this is the 2nd leading cause of death in the USA and the UK topped only by "old age".

So we would be correct in our obsession over everything heart related then?

Maybe not!


There are major factors at play here,

Firstly anxiety throws up a whole heap of physical symptoms that make the heart react (omitting the long winded biochemical explanation) basically the same process in the body that athletes use in a positive way, to run faster and harder, also happens in anxiety, the negative element in anxiety is that we don't use that extra energy to move, instead a toxic mix of fear and futile containment takes place. As with the athlete, the heart rate increases along with blood pressure, sweating, breathlessness and body shaking, yet this is all happening whilst we are stood still, gripping the edge of the kitchen countertop.

Some of the most common misinterpreted symptoms are:

Palpitations - very common sensations ranging from mild flutters/being "aware"of your heartbeat right up to feeling as if it's bursting out of your chest.

Ectopic Beats - occasional "skipped/missed" Beats - often misinterpreted as atrial fibrillation (a condition causing irregular heart rate)

Chest & Arm pains
Any health anxiety sufferer worth their 10 cents is heightened to any sensations or pains in the chest and arm.

One useful tip when it comes to any kind of pain particularly chest and arms.

Anxiety causes the muscle tissues in the body to become tense and highly susceptible to pulls/strains and tears.

If you start with a twinge/tightness/mild pain in the chest/arm area, (that DOESN'T feel like a 170lb human sat on your sternum), try and isolate the area that the pain is coming from for example, if you feel a sensation on the left side of your chest, can you press on the area, gently massaging around it? If you can and the pain eases with massage then this highly likely to be muscular (heart pain will NOT go away by rubbing your chest). Pains/numbness in the arm and hands is often caused by muscles/nerve compression in the neck and shoulders (so make sure you massage chest/shoulders/rotator cuff and neck). Oh ...and YES on the neck you will encounter lots of little lumps and bumps (WE ALL HAVE THEM) so don't add Lymphoma to the list of diagnosis


Now......the responsible bit!

If you are worried and experiencing chest pains, rather than stressing go get it checked out . Any doctor worth their pay grade would prefer to see you for indigestion than take any risks when it comes to heart health. In most cases they will have a chat, listen to your heart and take your BP. Some may do an ECG, if it is offered take it! If not ASK! Once you have been given the all clear, put the ECG report in a FRAME above your bed! This is your constant reminder that your HEART is HEALTHY.

If for some reason they find something wrong, this is still good news, as they have caught it and can medicate for it, and prevent it!

So taking into account the original information given at the beginning of the post.

"Heart disease is the 2nd leading cause of death in the US and the UK aside from old age"

In fact between the US and the UK around 650,000 people died of heart disease last year (they did not drop dead on the spot many were long term cases).

So.... The math!

650,000 died last year of heart disease. The combined population of the 2 countries is approx 377 million. Therefore the percentage of people who died of heart disease last year was...................drumroll.............wait ....for.........it............



0.17%


And that is the no1 killer aside from old age...............????


I'm not sure I will sleep tonight........will you ?



The next update will cover "The Brain" ......... How very exciting!!!!