Although there is no single identifying symptom for heart disease, there are several classic symptoms, which may vary slightly between men and women. Generally, these symptoms include pain or discomfort in the chest that comes on with activity and goes away with rest; shortness of breath or unusual tiredness with activity; activities that used to be easy become difficult. Symptoms also include a sense of heaviness, pressure, squeezing, fullness, burning, tightness, or other discomfort in your chest, shoulder, arm, neck, or jaw, which doesn't go away.
Medical history and examination
Before any definitive tests are done, your doctor will ask you about any symptoms you may have experienced, such as chest pains, shortness of breath, difficulty in performing physical work, swelling of the feet and ankles, and palpitations.
Your doctor will also want to know if there is a history of heart disease in your family. Your doctor will check your pulse in the arteries in your neck; beneath your arms; at your elbows and wrists; in your abdomen; in your groin and in your knees, ankles, and feet, to assess if there is adequate blood flow on both sides of your body. Your blood pressure and body temperature will also be measured. Your doctor will listen to your heart with a stethoscope for any distinctive sounds, known as heart murmurs, which are caused by the opening and closing of your heart valves. Your doctor will also examine your chest to determine heart size; adequate breathing rate; normal chest and lung movements; and to determine if your lungs are filling adequately with air, or if any areas around your heart or your lungs contain fluid.