Aa
can anyone help me - do i have heart disease?
i am a 28 year old male and i am overweight. my resting blood pressure is usually from 135-155 over 90-105. i do not take any medications. when i wake up,i feel an itch inside my chest when i breath in. i also seem to gasp for air for no reason. when i am putting my socks on or walking around,i have a difficult time breathing. all of my ekg's have been abnormal. i have right bundle branch block,which is transient and also left bundle branch block at times. i am young,could i have some sort of heart disease at my age? if not,why am i gasping for air? thanks.
Hi. Your blood pressure shows high Diastolic pressure, too high to ignore. The number one cause of Diastolic hypertension is obesity. The extra body mass puts a lot of force against the arteries, making them smaller in diameter, increasing pressure. You say you are overweight and I suspect this is the major cause of your problems. I agree with Jon, it doesn't sound like heart disease.
COMMUNITY LEADER
We are not doctors and really are not qualified to say if you have heart disease, you need to call your doctor and get a work up if you are concerned, especially since your BP is so high at a young age.
Having said that, what you describe does not sound like heart disease yet, it sounds more like deconditioning. A RBBB is a common finding and it rarely has any diagnostic significance. A LBBB can be a little more concerning in the presence of an abnormal heart structure or previous heart disease, but a quick echo and stress test would resolve that question. Remember what these are, these are interruptions of the electrical signal in the nerve bundles that run down the right and left sides of your heart that control the beating of the chambers. It can be caused by something as minor as one damaged cell and is rarely an issue. Your doctor would have sent you for more extensive tests if they felt it was a result of heart damage, but you should certainly express your concerns to them.
Again, you don't sound like an individual with classic symptoms of heart disease, but you should be asking your doctor these questions.
Hope this helps,
Jon
Having said that, what you describe does not sound like heart disease yet, it sounds more like deconditioning. A RBBB is a common finding and it rarely has any diagnostic significance. A LBBB can be a little more concerning in the presence of an abnormal heart structure or previous heart disease, but a quick echo and stress test would resolve that question. Remember what these are, these are interruptions of the electrical signal in the nerve bundles that run down the right and left sides of your heart that control the beating of the chambers. It can be caused by something as minor as one damaged cell and is rarely an issue. Your doctor would have sent you for more extensive tests if they felt it was a result of heart damage, but you should certainly express your concerns to them.
Again, you don't sound like an individual with classic symptoms of heart disease, but you should be asking your doctor these questions.
Hope this helps,
Jon
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Heart Disease Community
Is a low-fat diet really that heart healthy after all? James D. Nicolantonio, PharmD, urges us to reconsider decades-long dietary guidelines.
Can depression and anxiety cause heart disease? Get the facts in this Missouri Medicine report.
Fish oil, folic acid, vitamin C. Find out if these supplements are heart-healthy or overhyped.
Learn what happens before, during and after a heart attack occurs.
What are the pros and cons of taking fish oil for heart health? Find out in this article from Missouri Medicine.
How to lower your heart attack risk.
