Often Worried and Easily Tired? It Could Be a Hidden Symptom of Heart Disease

JAKARTA - Heart disease is not always preceded by severe chest pain as often described. In some people, especially women, the signs can be more subtle, such as being easily tired, shortness of breath during light activity, sleep disorders, to discomfort in the chest that is difficult to explain.

In fact, complaints in the form of anxiety that constantly arise can also be an early signal of a disorder in the heart.

Quoted from Hindustan Times, an interventional cardiologist at Saifee Hospital, Mustafa Taskeen, explained that the symptoms of heart disease in women are often different from men and not always typical. Some of them even resemble psychological disorders.

According to him, heart problems in women do not always appear as sharp and stabbing chest pain. Instead, the complaint can be in the form of prolonged fatigue, shortness of breath, mild discomfort in the chest, nausea, dizziness, or a feeling of restlessness that has no obvious cause.

"Constant fatigue, decreased exercise tolerance, sleep disturbances, shortness of breath, or vague discomfort can appear weeks or even months before a heart attack," he explained.

Dr. Taskeen added that anxiety is often triggered by physical sensations that come from the body. In conditions such as microvascular angina, symptoms that arise such as extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and chest discomfort can be very similar to anxiety disorders.

As a result of the similarity, not a few women were eventually diagnosed with psychological problems, even though there was an underlying heart disorder. He emphasized that the relationship between chronic anxiety and heart disease is two-way: heart disorders can trigger anxiety, and vice versa, prolonged stress can also worsen heart conditions.

In microvascular angina, small-sized coronary vessels do not work optimally even though the main artery appears normal in standard examinations such as angiography. This condition is more common in women, especially before or after menopause.

Therefore, it is important not to ignore symptoms that seem mild or are considered just stress. Anxiety that appears without a clear cause, accompanied by other physical complaints, should be further evaluated to ensure there is no disturbance in heart function.