PUBLISHED DECISION GUIDE
Prevention and Control of Coronary Heart Disease: Official Guide
Learn about early symptoms and diagnosis of coronary heart disease from the official National Health Commission guide.
This guide from the National Health Commission of China provides essential information on recognizing early symptoms of coronary heart disease (CHD) and understanding how it is diagnosed.
Independently written English guidance based on cited public sources. Every public guide is human reviewed; it is not an official translation of the source publisher.
Early Symptoms of Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease (CHD) often presents with warning signs that may appear during physical activity or in certain conditions. Patients may experience pain in the posterior sternum or precordial area, often accompanied by pain in the left shoulder, which typically eases after rest.
Other early symptoms include palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, and dyspnea during physical activities or in public places. Recurrent arrhythmia, tachycardia, or bradycardia may also occur.
Chest palpitations and tightness can also occur after excessive eating or in cold weather. Additionally, long-term left shoulder pain that is not easily cured may be an early indicator of CHD. In the early stage, patients may clearly display chest tightness, palpitations, and breathing difficulty.
How to Know if You Have Coronary Heart Disease
A diagnosis of coronary heart disease usually relies on typical clinical symptoms, such as sudden chest pain during agitation. The pain typically begins behind the sternum in the pre-cardiac area and may radiate to the left shoulder, and even to the little finger and ring finger. Symptoms often ease after taking oral nitroglycerin.
Angina pectoris is the main clinical symptom and is highly indicative of coronary heart disease. If angina persists for a long time during a myocardial infarction, additional symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, sweating, fever, cyanosis, a drop in blood pressure, shock, and even heart failure may occur.
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