Preventing heart disease in patients is my main goal, but early detection is the next best thing.

This can lead to changes in lifestyle and medical therapies that can delay or deny the onset of a heart attack; almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable with lifestyle changes.

Many of my patients are shocked to learn about the following clues to underlying clogged arteries and heart disease.

1. Erectile dysfunction (ED)

1. Erectile dysfunction (ED)
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Men have a built-in warning system for silent CHD.

When achieving an erection is difficult or impossible, it can be a sign of clogged arteries in the pelvis that presents before a heart attack hits.

There are, on average, three to five years between the onset of ED and the finding of CHD, which is plenty of time to detect and to work on preventing heart issues.

If you and your partner are worried about sexual performance, look for and treat root causes of diseased arteries before just popping a blue pill.

If you are worried about a heart attack, new symptoms are found nearly every day. A new study reveals that liquid cholesterol can be lethal when it hardens to form sharp crystals

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2. Baldness

2. Baldness
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In a comprehensive new study of almost 37,000 men, severe baldness at the crown of the head strongly predicted the presence of silent CHD at any age.

In a separate study of more than 7,000 people (including over 4,000 women), moderate to severe baldness doubled the risk of dying from heart disease in both sexes.

Hair loss, for women especially, can be frustrating but recent years have seen an increase in resources for coping with the problem.

3. Ear crease

3. Ear crease
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One of the stranger markers, a crease in your earlobe (specifically, an angled crease in the ear that runs diagonally from the canal to the lower edge of the earlobe) has been mentioned in medical research reports as a sign of silent CHD for decades.

The ear crease may result from poor circulation, including in arteries in the heart.

Although some medical professionals have argued that a crease is just a general sign of aging, researchers used the most sophisticated CT scan method to measure silent CHD and found that ear crease predicted heart disease even after the authors accounted for other risk factors, such as age and smoking.

Both heart disease and stroke – think of stroke as a heart attack in your head – occur because of blockages and damage to the arteries in the heart throughout the body. Here’s how to increase your heart health.

Preventing heart disease in patients is my main goal, but early detection is the next best thing.

This can lead to changes in lifestyle and medical therapies that can delay or deny the onset of a heart attack; almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable with lifestyle changes.

Many of my patients are shocked to learn about the following clues to underlying clogged arteries and heart disease.

4. Calf pain when you walk

4. Calf pain when you walk
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This is known as claudication (from the Latin for “to limp”).

Atherosclerosis can block leg arteries, particularly in smokers, before CHD is diagnosed.

This symptom requires an evaluation without delay.

Your doctor will examine the pulses in your legs and perform simple measurements of leg blood pressure and blood flow to confirm a diagnosis of poor circulation.

It is critical that heart disease be diagnosed as early as possible because there are many dietary and medical treatments that can help reverse the issue.

Some of my patients took these early clues to heart. I advised them to eat more plant-based foods and fewer animal products and to start a walking program.

Their calf pain completely resolved within weeks and has not recurred for years.

Anyone with any of the above signs of silent CHD should know his or her numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose). Ask your doctor if you should be checked for heart disease with an EKG, a coronary calcium CT imaging, or an exercise stress testing.

To borrow from Ben Franklin, an ounce of prevention (plus a bowl of kale) is worth a pound of cure.

High blood pressure damages your blood vessels, heart and eyes while also increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia and kidney disease.

These tips will help to lower high blood pressure, or keep it from rising if it’s at a healthy level.

5. A tight jaw

5. A tight jaw
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This symptom of clogged arteries occurs more often in women, but men should be aware of it, too.

ccording to the Harvard Medical School, aches and pains in the jaw and neck are common symptoms of angina, which is the discomfort that comes as a result of poor blood flow to part of the heart.

The pain occurs because the main nerve that carries pain signals from the heart, the vagus nerve, is in constant contact with the neck, jaw, head, and left arm.

Visit your doctor to find out if your jaw pain is the result of something benign, such are teeth grinding, or if it’s something you’ll want to monitor with caution.

Discomfort in your jaw when you exert yourself – or get a bit upset or excited – is also a sign of angina, where the heart muscle struggles to get enough blood as a result of hardened, narrowed arteries.

6. Lower back pain

6. Lower back pain
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Your lower back pain might not be a simple sign of ageing muscles.

According to the Physicians Community for Responsible Medicine, the lower back is also often one of the first parts of the body to accumulate plaque.

You’ll feel pain because the reduced blood flow to the area can weaken the disks that cushion the vertebrae.

Check out these 5 simple strategies to prevent and ease back pain.

Preventing heart disease in patients is my main goal, but early detection is the next best thing.

This can lead to changes in lifestyle and medical therapies that can delay or deny the onset of a heart attack; almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable with lifestyle changes.

Many of my patients are shocked to learn about the following clues to underlying clogged arteries and heart disease.

7. A smoking habit

7. A smoking habit
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As we all know by now, smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your health.

And according to WebMD, quitting is one of the best things you can do to decrease your chance of CHD.

Having difficulty giving up the darts? Booking cosmetic surgery may help!

This article first appeared on RD.com

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