Angina and shortness of breath

Filed in archive Miscellany on November 3, 2005

Not really news, but recent headlines report that shortness of breath can be a signal of heart trouble:

One simple question, Do you have trouble breathing?, may reveal as much about someone's risk of dying as the most relied-upon sign, chest pain.

Even people without any other cardiac symptoms were up to four times more likely to die of heart problems in the next few years if they had shortness of breath, a study of nearly 18,000 people suggests.

"Shortness of breath is not a sign to be ignored. It means make sure that your doctor knows about your symptoms," said Dr. Daniel S. Berman, senior author of the study, done at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Doctors take into account a number of risk factors and symptoms but especially chest pain when deciding whether someone might have heart disease and needs further tests. But it wasn't always clear how much weight they should give shortness of breath, Berman said.

Chest pain is not the only sign of heart disease. A study reports that in men with mild, moderate or severe breathlessness, the prevalence rates of angina were 16, 29 and 41%, respectively.