If you’re struggling to fall asleep without plenty of pillows to support you, it could be a “hidden” sign of a deadly health condition, a leading doctor has warned.
Cardiologist Dr. Rosie Godeseth, associate medical director at Vitality Health, says discomfort when lying on your back in bed can be a symptom of heart failure.
The chronic condition occurs when the heart can no longer pump efficiently because the muscle has weakened.
Symptoms include debilitating fatigue, swelling of the extremities, and sometimes extreme difficulty breathing, caused by fluid buildup in the lungs.
Breathing problems can be worse when lying on your back, meaning patients often find the “supported” position more comfortable.
Dr. Godeseth said the sun: ‘Sometimes people (with heart failure) experience a buildup of fluid in the lungs that can make it difficult to breathe when lying down.
‘If you have to lie on pillows while sleeping or wake up short of breath, see a doctor.
“They may recommend undergoing a sleep study (where health monitors are worn overnight) or heart function tests.”
Cardiologist Dr Rosie Godeseth warned that the “supported” sleeping position is often adopted by people with heart failure who find the position relieves their symptoms.
Heart failure is a long-term condition that cannot be cured, but early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the risk of serious illness and death.
Currently, one million people in the UK are living with heart failure and there are 200,000 new diagnoses each year. In the United States, the condition affects approximately 6.7 million adults.
It can occur after a heart attack or due to high blood pressure and long-term heart disease.
Only half of heart failure patients live more than five years after their diagnosis, and eight in ten patients first learn they have the condition after an emergency admission to hospital.
Heart failure is a long-term condition that cannot be cured, but early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the risk of serious illness and death.
Treatments include medications to improve heart function and surgery, implantation of a pacemaker to control heart rate, or heart surgery to improve blood flow.
In June, the British Heart Failure Society warned that there could be up to 400,000 people with undiagnosed heart failure in the UK.
Experts called for urgent action to detect these cases and warned that NHS services could be overwhelmed by “a tsunami” of heart failure patients in the coming years.
Lynn Mackay-Thomas, chief executive of BSH, said: “It is a ticking time bomb. A national, sustainable, centrally commissioned program to find people before they suffer serious illness can help change this trajectory.
“We face a tsunami of hospital admissions if we do not systematically find people with heart failure early or at higher risk of developing heart failure.”
Other less common symptoms of the disease include persistent cough, bloating, rapid heart rate, and loss of appetite.
Although these problems can also be caused by less serious conditions, it’s a good idea to get checked, says Dr. Godeseth.
He adds that there are several ways to improve long-term heart health, including staying active, eating a healthy, balanced diet and avoiding smoking.
Exercise alone can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 35 percent because it helps regulate blood pressure, reduces bad cholesterol, and can keep blood glucose levels stable.