If you think you are at risk of developing coronary heart disease, the first thing you should do is schedule regular heart checkups. And you should do this even if you have not begun to experience any of the traditional heart disease symptoms, because it is not unheard of for a heart attack to occur without any heart disease symptoms at all.

Major Heart Disease Symptoms But if you are wondering if any of the things you are feeling could be heart disease symptoms, the major signs of heart disease are angina and heart palpitations. Angina is named form the Latin word for chest pain, and if you experienced chest pain or tightness which seems to increase after you have been exercising, or if the pain radiates out from your chest into yurt neck, shoulder, jaw, and left arm you should talk to your doctor immediately. The heart disease symptom angina is often confused with an actual heart attack.

Heart palpitations, another of the most common heart disease symptoms, are hard to ignore. Your heart will feel as if it’s dancing around like a chicken on a hot plate. Heart palpitations are often accompanies by shortness of breath, even if you are not being active.

Be particularly aware of all heart attack symptoms if you have the following risk factors:

• smoking
• high blood pressure
• high blood cholesterol
• diabetes
• lack of physical activity
• obese or overweight
• family history: you have a first-degree male relative (father, grandfather, brother) with heart disease before the age of 55 or a first-degree female relative (mother, grandmother, sister) with heart disease before the age of 65
• woman after the age of 55
• man after the age of 45

Src: http://health.discovery.com