Neurosis of the heart or heart disease?
Cardiac neurosis is a manifestation of the General neurotic condition of the body caused by a tense rhythm of life and frequent stress. This lead to various failures of higher nervous activity, especially those that occur with disorders of the nervous tone (neurasthenia). As a result, when any neurotic reaction the person has a rapid heartbeat. Patients with cardiac neurosis feel heart beats, which normally are not perceived.
At a heart neurosis the patient complains of stabbing, pressing, cutting pains in the breast that occur after nervous overloads. The pain lasts from several hours to several days. Unlike heart disease, they are not associated with walking or physical strain. Sometimes patients with cardiac neurosis complain of pain similar to the symptoms of angina pectoris (pain experienced under the left shoulder blade, a feeling of burning and pressure behind the breastbone). A similar phenomenon is observed in advanced neurasthenia, which leads to the development of angina.
Pain in heart neurosis disappear as soon as the patient calms down and turns his attention to a pleasant topic for him.
How to distinguish a neurosis of the heart and heart disease
To distinguish cardiac neurosis, heart diseases, should pay attention to other symptoms indicating functional disorders of the nervous system. In this case also, there is poor sleep, fatigue, apathy, confusion, tremor in the limbs, anxiety, bad mood, depressed mental state. To confirm the diagnosis should undergo an ECG (electrocardiography), which will help to identify heart disease.
The close relationship of neurosis of the heart and the Central nervous system is confirmed by the fact that the disease often occurs in hysterical women.
One of the symptoms of cardiac neurosis is also psychogenic shortness of breath. The doctor can easily distinguish it from difficulty in breathing with heart disease. Patients with neurosis periodically take deep breaths. For these patients is also characterized by dizziness, shallow breathing, weakness. These disorders are neurogenic in nature.
Heart diseases are also characteristic symptoms, away at a heart neurosis. Such manifestations include swelling, discoloration of skin (cyanosis, pallor). To determine the exact cause discomfort in the chest, shortness of breath, the doctor enlists the aid of veloergometry (Holter ECG). This method of diagnostics will help to accurately identify the pathology of the heart.
