Heart worries again!!! I just want to stop worrying about this!!!

[alwaysworrying19]

Hi everyone.
For some time now, I have worried about me and my family members having undiagnosed heart conditions that could cause them to drop dead at any moment. Its awful and I can't seem to control the fear. I have been tested for a heart condition and got told there was nothing to worry about. This is some comfort to me but what about my family members who havent been tested? Therefore I worry more about them now.

What I want to know is whether you would have any signs or symptoms of having a heart condition? If you have heard of Sudden Adult Death (SADS), I've read these people who die from a heart condition have no symptoms but how much of the media is true I don't know. I know the media likes the write the worst case possible as it sells!!

Anyone who has felt the same as me or has the same fear, please get in touch. Also if anyone can help me with whether you would have signs of a heart condition please let me know!
Thanks everyone

[Ella_Jayne]

OK, I know exactly how you feel. SADS is something that has frightened me for a while, but what you need to remember is that these cases are rare and the causes of them are mostly from geneticlly inherited heart conditions such as long QT syndrome (QT interval on ECG is longer than normal - Symptoms - fainting on exercise and emotional stress) and Cardiomyopathy (thickening of the heart muscle).

CRY.org (Cardiac risk in the young) test for these conditions using an ECG and a full medical history. If that is abnormal then an Echocardiogram is ordered.

If you've had an ECG and are ok then please don't worry. Your chances of having one of these conditions post good ECG are slim. As for your family, well unless there is a family history of SADS or one of your family members have symptoms of fainting randomly or on exertion then I honestly wouldn't worry.

I've seen the stories myself of families that say they lost their son/daughter to SADS with no symptoms at all prior. I have no idea if this is true or whether symptoms were there but just ignored. I don't know, but please remember that this is very rare and you've been tested so you're fine.

It scared me something fierce when I came across this about 18months ago but I've asked my cardiologist about it and he just told me not to worry unless you have a strong family history of SADS or heart problems.

Maybe have a look at the cry website for more info. http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/

Also, why do you worry about you or your family having a heart problem? Any history or symptoms?

[alwaysworrying19]

Hi. Thanks for your reply.
No one in my family has a family history of SADS or heart condition. No one in my family has an signs or symptoms of heart condition either.
I worry because of what I've read in the news and looked up on google (which I wish I never had and never will again!!)
What started it all off was reading about a local football player who died in his sleep when he was around 32 years old. Since then, I worried because it said he had no symptoms and just died one night! Then I went on to research it and scared myself so much about it and now it plays on my mind constantly.
Have you overcome your fear of this or does it come back to you sometimes?

[alwaysworrying19]

Also is Cardiomyopathy an inherited condition and what are the symptoms of that?

[Ella_Jayne]

I still worry about it from time to time but not like I used to. I know my fears are irrational so that helps. Yeah I've heard stories about athletes just dropping dead from heart problems which is unfortunate but it's very rare. That's why you hear it in the media, because it doesn't happen often. If it happened all the time, there would be no need to report. Cardiomyopathy is genetic as far as I know, it usually develops in your teens and is one the the most common cause of SADS especially among athletes.

You're probably better off asking RLR who's a retired physician - as I'm just going on information I've been told and things that I've googled so RLR would be a better source.

The link to his forum: http://palps.chemicalforums.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl

Hope it helps.

[Ella_Jayne]

Cardiomyopathy signs and symptoms from wikipedia:

Symptoms and signs may mimic those of almost any form of heart disease. Chest pain is common. Mild myocarditis or cardiomyopathy is frequently asymptomatic; severe cases are associated with heart failure, arrhythmias, and systemic embolization. Manifestations of the underlying disease (e.g., Chagas' disease) may be prominent. Most patients with biopsy-proven myocarditis report a recent viral prodrome preceding cardiovascular symptoms.
ECG abnormalities are often present, although the changes are frequently nonspecific. A pattern characteristic of left ventricular hypertrophy may be present. Flat or inverted T waves are most common, often with low-voltage QRS complexes. Intraventricular conduction defects and bundle branch block, especially left bundle branch block, are also common. An echocardiogram is useful to detect wall motion abnormalities or a pericardial effusion. Chest radiographs can be normal or can show evidence of congestive heart failure with pulmonary edema or cardiomegaly.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiom...s_and_symptoms

[nomorepanic]

You cannot tell who is going to have a heart attack and when but obviously there are risk factors that you do have control over:

smoking
alcohol intake
weight
blood pressure
stress
doing exercise
eating healthily

I have had a heart attack and we do have a family history of heart problems and angina and yes cardiomyopathy is usually genetic.

Look after your heart and you should be fine and are certainly not in a high risk group if do not have a family history and/or look after yourself.

[alwaysworrying19]

By genetic do you mean that other member of the same family have the same condition?

[nomorepanic]

Maybe a better word is hereditary but I think it means the same thing - comes from your bloodline relatives.

[alwaysworrying19]

O right so if you have a family history of family members having these conditions, then you are more likely to have them too? Is that correct?