Your heart may be too big

By Tomlin Paul, 50 and living better

A Silent, no-good companion!

The heart can be seen as the centre of things physical, emotional and spiritual. I have seen all sides of it in my office. The racing heart of anxiety. The broken heart of love gone sour. Even the tormented heart, searching for meaning in life's experiences.

What kind of story does your heart tell?

Doing a heart check

The electrocardiogram, or ECG, can tell a lot about the state of your heart. If you are 50 and over, I would recommend it as a part of your next check-up. Now, although Hank Williams in that famous blues ballad says "your cheating heart will tell on you" I am yet to find those signs on an ECG. However, I have seen much too often evidence of an enlarged heart.

Why would your heart be enlarged?

Let's examine this scenario.

Mr T is brought in by his wife for a check-up. Oh, that doesn't sound too good. Almost like he is a 'person of interest'. Well, he is 58 years old and his check-up is long overdue. Truth is, he has never had one. About two years ago, he was told at a health fair that his blood pressure was a little high and that he should watch it. But he says it was a little overwork situation, which is no longer a problem.

What is the pressure reading?

All three of Mr T's blood pressure readings are in the region of 160 over 90. But before I could share with him that this looks like he has high blood pressure, he explains to me that the day is very hot, which is why his pressure is high. After my examination, I order an ECG. Five minutes later, I scan the printout. There it is! Evidence that his heart is way above normal size.

Big-hearted is no compliment

Finding a big heart in this situation says that in spite of Mr T feeling well, his left ventricle is really overworked. That's the chamber that pumps and pumps and pumps blood every second to the organs and structures of the body. After a few months of pumping against high blood pressure, the muscle of the chamber starts to thicken. It will slowly keep increasing in size once the pressure remains high. Left untreated, that big heart just does not pump very well and eventually heart failure can develop.

Mind who you keep company with!

Do you know of someone who is always around and very quiet and seemingly harmless? One day you find out that for quite some time they were really "stabbing you in the back"? That's what happened to Mr T. It is all too common a story that I often see. Indeed, he has a good wife but alas, he kept high blood pressure too close to his heart.

World Health Day, celebrated on April 7 this year, puts this silent killer in the spotlight. So go to your health centre or clinic today and find out if high blood pressure is quietly lurking in your life. Take advice and action and get treated.

Dr Tomlin Paul is a family physician at Health Plus Associates in Kingston; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.