heart disease

[cassie17]

is it possible to have a heart condition if your blood pressure and pulse seem fine?

[Dovaston]

Yes it is possible Cassie. My blood pressure and heart rate were normal despite 2 Angioplasty / 5 Stents required !

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Yes! As with Dovaston my BP and pulse were normal, as were my cholesterol and a resting ECG. An angiogram showed four arteries between 70% and 85% blocked. These were bypassed.

Forgive me asking but what is your reason for asking? Do you have any symptoms?

[cassie17 in reply to MichaelJH]

I have suffered with severe fatigue for over a year, I also get palpatations feel breathless and dizzy, my gp did blood tests a year ago that came back normal,my blood pressure and pulse rate normal.

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to cassie17]

Does exercise trigger these symptoms. If so it is worth asking for a stress (exercise) ECG. They are stopped if the patient suffers distress.

[Chappychap]

Blood pressure and pulse are just two risk factors, there are others. Furthermore there are different standards for blood pressure, I had a BUPA medical almost every year before I retired and my blood pressure was normally in the range 135/85 to 140/90. The doctor's view was that wasn't too bad. However, I now understand that's actually stage one hypertension, and you really should be below 120/80. I'm now in that safety zone, but I needed the help of medication (along with plenty of exercise and a salt free diet) to get there.

What is your weight? Again, don't kid yourself that you're just a few pounds over so it's not too bad. That's what I was, overweight without being obese. Bottom line is that's not good enough.

Then there's lipid levels. One key metric is that you want the ratio of HDL (good cholesterol) to total cholesterol to be below 4.0. Over 6.0 is when some doctors raise red flags, but below 4.0 is where you want to get to.

And then there are people who, despite having all the main risk factors under control and leading exemplary life styles, still get heart disease. Then it can be due to other factors, such as being pre-diabetic, or really oddball reasons like a niacin deficiency or (believe it or not) gum disease.

[Gype]

Hi yes I had the same but still had a heart attack and had a stent fitted.

[Shockedwithstent in reply to Gype]

Me too:))

[Ianc2]

There is an elephant In this room and its name is insulin. You can have normal sugar levels because the insulin - which is working flat out to keep the sugar levels in limits - is slowly being overwhelmed and is becoming less and less effective, damaged cloresterol is not being cleared so effectively from the arteries and it is all starting to go slowly but surely wrong. Eventually pre diabetes starts up, if you have managed to avoid a widowmaker that is.

[Qualipop]

Absolutely. My BP was 120/70 on average; normal pulse and cholesterol very reasonable with a good balance of LDL and hdl but I had a heart attack in AUgust and needed 2 stents and I have two more blockages not yet bad enough to stent.

[Hidden]

Is your pulse rhythm steady or erratic? Suggest you get to know your pulse by checking both rate & rhythm manually several times a day when you have symptoms. ( Don’t use devices such as Fitbit etc as they don’t pick up unusual rhythms, neither do the finger pulse monitors GPs use). If you have concerns, see your GP again.

Breathlessness, dizziness, palpitations & fatigue can all be signs of an abnormal heart rhythm.

Pat x

[cassie17 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you,it seems steady but I have made gp apt for Monday,x