Cardiologist Highlights Atypical Heart Symptoms
A cardiologist from Charlotte, North Carolina, Dr. Kaustubh Dabhadkar, has raised awareness about unusual symptoms that could indicate serious heart issues. As a specialist in preventive cardiology, he frequently fields questions from patients concerning which symptoms to observe.
Common vs. Atypical Symptoms
Dr. Dabhadkar shared with Newsweek that patients are typically advised to watch for textbook symptoms, such as chest pressure that radiates to the arm or jaw. He stated, “The typical symptoms are easy to diagnose and hard to miss.” However, he acknowledged that atypical symptoms are “hard to diagnose and easy to miss.”
A study from 2025 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology revealed that over 99% of individuals diagnosed with coronary artery disease, heart failure, or stroke exhibited at least one risk factor beforehand. These risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, elevated blood sugar, and smoking.
Anecdote Emphasizing Unusual Indicators
Dr. Dabhadkar reiterated an important cardiology “rule” by sharing an anecdote from his experience as a cardiology fellow. He remembered an early morning scenario when he was asked to see a patient with an “earache.” Initially, he viewed it as a low priority. However, the EKG revealed the patient was experiencing a heart attack.
An electrocardiogram (EKG) measures the heart’s electrical signals. It can identify heart attacks and irregular heartbeats. In this case, the EKG showed a major artery was shutting down, although the patient experienced pain only in the ear lobe. After opening the artery, the ear pain ceased.
Understanding Referred Pain
This account served to remind doctors that heart ailments can produce unusual symptoms. The nerves of the heart connect at the same spinal points as those of the chest, shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, and upper belly. The brain attempts to identify the pain source, sometimes inaccurately. This phenomenon is known as referred pain.
Atypical Signs to Watch For
Dr. Dabhadkar informed Newsweek that heart attack symptoms could manifest in unexpected forms, such as persistent cold sweats. Patients often attribute these symptoms to simple explanations, leading to delays in seeking evaluation.
Approximately one-third of heart attack patients do not report chest pain. While individuals under 65 usually feel chest discomfort, it becomes rare after age 85. Signs that could be overlooked as heart attack symptoms include pain in the jaw, teeth, throat, upper back, and unexplained fatigue or breathlessness.
Dr. Dabhadkar advised paying attention to new, unexplained symptoms triggered by exertion but eased by rest. These include a cold sweat, nausea, or a sense of severe wrongness, especially when seen together. In such scenarios, he recommends an EKG.
He cautioned against adding symptoms like “ear lobes” to a standard checklist, referring to it as one isolated incident. He emphasized, “I would rather see a hundred false alarms than miss one real heart attack.”