Hello, the main symptoms of heart failure are dyspnea, wheezing and edema. But sometimes they are other symptoms. When the following four abnormal signals appear, you should be alert to the possibility of heart failure and go to the hospital for examination in time.

1. Cough and asthma look like tracheitis and asthma.

Left heart failure often manifests as frequent dry cough or chest tightness and asthma at first, especially during exercise and fatigue. Others suddenly woke up at night and were short of breath, and the symptoms gradually eased after forcibly sitting up. This is due to left heart failure, leading to pulmonary congestion, bronchial mucosal edema, increased secretions, hindering breathing and ventilation. Because the elderly have a history of chronic lung diseases (such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema). ), when heart failure shows respiratory symptoms, it is often misdiagnosed as bronchitis or asthma attack. How to distinguish the two? Cardiogenic cough and asthma is closely related to body position, with severe symptoms in lying position and mild symptoms in sitting (standing) position, which mostly occurs at night.

Second, loss of appetite, bloating and diarrhea seem to be gastroenteritis.

This condition is mainly seen in right heart failure. Due to the obstruction of right heart blood return, systemic venous pressure increases, leading to congestion of internal organs (gastrointestinal tract, liver, gallbladder, etc.). ), and there are symptoms such as loss of appetite, bloating, nausea and vomiting. Severe cases can also cause abdominal pain and diarrhea due to ischemic spasm of gastrointestinal smooth muscle. If you don't ask about the medical history and physical examination in detail (right heart failure usually has positive signs such as hepatomegaly, edema of lower limbs and jugular vein swelling), it is easy to be misdiagnosed as digestive tract diseases such as chronic gastroenteritis.

Third, emotional or mental disorders seem to be senile psychosis or encephalopathy.

Some elderly patients with heart failure have prominent mental symptoms, such as dizziness, insomnia, irritability, hallucinations, unconsciousness and even coma. This is mainly because there are different degrees of cerebral arteriosclerosis and cerebral blood supply insufficiency in the elderly. When heart failure occurs, the cardiac output decreases, and the symptoms of cerebral ischemia are further aggravated. Of course, the disorder of water and electrolyte secondary to heart failure causes abnormal brain metabolism, which is also an important cause of mental disorder. If we don't pay attention to differentiation, it is easy to be misdiagnosed as senile psychosis, stroke, brain tumor and so on.

Fourth, urinary edema seems to be kidney disease.

In patients with heart failure, due to decreased cardiac output, systemic congestion, decreased effective circulating blood volume and insufficient renal blood flow, the total urine volume in 24 hours decreased and nocturia increased relatively. This is because in the state of lying at night, the amount of blood returning to the heart increases, and the kidneys are better than during the day. Different from nephropathy, cardiogenic edema usually starts from the drooping parts of the human body (ankles and calves), and renal edema often appears on the face first. In addition, the urine routine of patients with cardiogenic edema is mostly normal, accompanied by other symptoms and signs of heart failure.

Duomu Health has rich experience in heart failure.