How Do Heart Disorders Cause Symptoms on the Skin?

Heart diseases are the most common causes of illness and death today. Although its frequency increases with age, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, fat in the waist area, sedentary life are the most important known risk factors.

Its frequency increases with the increase of risk factors. As a result of risk factors, it appears as a sudden heart attack or advanced atherosclerotic disease with age. Istanbul Okan University Hospital Cardiology Specialist Dr. Lecturer Ceyhan Türkkan, a member, explained how heart diseases show symptoms on the skin.

Atherosclerosis, in the simplest terms, is the accumulation of fat in the vascular wall and is a progressive disease in which many factors such as genetics, nutrition and movement play a role. Atherosclerosis affects all vessels in the body, primarily brain vessels, leg vessels, kidney and intestinal vessels, as well as heart vessels. The order of priority also varies from person to person. Apart from the veins, diseases affecting the heart muscle or heart valves may also appear as heart failure or rhythm disorders.

All these diseases can sometimes give us visible clues. Recognizing them can enable us to diagnose early, reduce risk factors, and slow or stop the course of the disease. So what are these?

1. Fatty deposits around the eyes: In the presence of high cholesterol, some people may have irregularly circumscribed, yellowish-colored fat deposits around the eyes, associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and heart attack.
2. Lubricated belly: Belly weight is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and heart attacks in everyone.
3. Postprandial abdominal pain: Abdominal pain that develops after meals, continues for a while and then passes, regardless of the person's weight, may be a symptom of atherosclerosis.
4. Swelling of the legs and feet: Swelling that develops on both legs, leaves scars when pressed, stretches the skin and sometimes causes itching, may be a sign of heart failure, its unilateral nature is usually seen in vein diseases.
5. Hair loss: Although the mechanism of baldness that occurs at an early age is not clear, it may be the result of the insufficiency of the thin blood vessels that feed the hair follicles, which may be a symptom of general vascular disease.
6. Decrease in leg hair: As a result of atherosclerosis, stenosis and blockages in the leg veins can cause a decrease in blood flow to the legs and loss of leg hair, usually accompanied by leg pain when walking.
7. Redness on cheeks: It is missed in valvular heart diseases, especially mitral valve stenosis, and indicates that the disease may be advanced.
8. Bruising on lips: Bruising may be seen on the lips as a result of mixing of dirty and clean blood, which is especially seen in congenital heart diseases, increases with crying in infancy, becomes apparent as a result of effort in later ages.
9. Decrease in sexual functions: Erectile dysfunction may be a symptom of vascular disease as a result of atherosclerosis, and it is very closely related to smoking.
10. Distinction or irregularity in pulse beats: It can be seen in heart rhythm disorders, together with heart valve diseases or as a result of high blood pressure. The risk of stroke increases with age.