COOPER CITY, Fla. – There are many different forms of heart disease, a condition often associated with a host of symptoms including chest pain, numbness or weakness in the extremities, and shortness of breath.
But sometimes this leading cause of death comes with no outward signs, what’s known as asymptomatic heart disease.
When it comes to taking care of himself, 61-year-old Ritchie Lucas was doing everything right.
He exercised regularly, ate primarily a plant-based diet, and took time to relax.
“I’m an avid fitness person, always looking out for the numbers and doing anything I can to stay ahead of the fitness curve,” Lucas said.
Regular physical exams, even a cardiac stress test, all suggested his heart was healthy until a coronary calcium test revealed all arteries to his heart were nearly 100 percent blocked.
Lucas suddenly found himself undergoing a quadruple bypass.
“I wasn’t nervous going in was more stunned that this is where this was at,” he said.
Memorial Healthcare System cardiac surgeon Dr. Michael Cortelli said nearly half of all heart attacks may have no symptoms at all.
“That doesn’t mean that patients don’t have risk factors still, they could be asymptomatic and have risk factors but there are people out there who are asymptomatic and have no perceivable risk factors at least that they know of those are the ones we worry about,” he said.
Cortelli said there isn’t one diagnostic test can perfectly predict your risk which is why routine physicals and knowing your family history are so important.
“That may alert them to the possibility of there being a problem,” he said.
A month out of surgery, Lucas was finding their way back to his normal routine.
“What I’ve actually liked about this is it’s turned on some of my friends to go get checked they’re like I’m going to go get this done. To me, that’s not worth the price of a quadruple bypass but I’m glad to be able to pass it on,” Lucas said.
Experts say asymptomatic heart disease is more common among people with type two diabetes and what many people overlook are subtle symptoms including excessive sweating, sleep disturbances, and stomach problems.