The slow, progressive nature of aortic valve stenosis can make it challenging to track without diagnostic tools.
“The only way to actually track valve disease progression is with an echocardiogram every few months to reassess severity or decline in heart function,” Tang says. “There’s really no other way to see the progression.”
But day-to-day symptom tracking adds useful data between scans, especially if frequent echocardiograms aren’t possible.
“What I always recommend is just having a regular exercise routine that patients continue over a long period of time,” says Mackram F. Eleid, MD, an interventional cardiologist with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “They have something that they’re used to doing that they can look back on and say, ‘You know, something is different.’”
This routine can be as simple as regularly walking, climbing stairs, or engaging in low-impact or low-intensity exercises like yoga or water aerobics.
“The ones that are tricky are the patients who are very sedentary and have been that way for many years,” Dr. Eleid says. “In that case, it’s very difficult in terms of tracking things.”
The following tips can help you monitor symptoms and uncover patterns to discuss with your doctor.
Keep a Symptom Journal
A daily symptom journal or diary is one of the simplest ways to detect any worsening heart-related issues. You can use online symptom trackers for aortic valve stenosis or heart health, or create your own with pen and paper. Every day, log:
- The date
- The symptom and its severity (mild/moderate/severe, or on a 1–5 scale)
- What activity you were doing, including whether it stopped you or made you take a break
- The time it occurred
- How long the symptom lasted
This information will show your provider how your health has changed over time.
“A lot of people will say, ‘I have some symptoms, but I’m doing fine,’” Tang says. “But when we ask how they did 6 to 12 months ago, they were doing a lot more — walking, running, swimming, climbing stairs, twice as much. Now they’re not able to do that, or there are other subtle symptoms, like needing a nap when they didn’t before. Those are markers of disease progression.”
Consider Wearable Tech (Smartwatches)
Smartwatches and fitness trackers can measure several factors related to heart health, including:
- Resting heart rate
- Heart rate during exertion
- Heart rhythm
- Physical activity (steps taken, distance moved, calories burned)
- Sleep quality
- Blood oxygen
Depending on the model, these devices can often be set up to provide you with daily or immediate notifications about these measurements. Logging them alongside your symptoms can show, for example, how fatigue or breathlessness may affect steps or whether your resting heart rate is creeping up over time (showing how much harder your heart is working to pump blood).
Keep in mind that wearables’ accuracy can be affected by factors like skin tone, body temperature, and fit.
Use a Pulse Oximeter
A pulse oximeter is a small device you clip onto your fingertip. It uses light to measure both your heart rate and blood oxygen level. While these devices are normally used at hospitals and doctor’s offices, you can purchase one to use at home.
When breathlessness hits, clip it on and jot down the numbers it shows, along with the time and what you were doing. A normal oxygen level is generally between 95 and 100 percent. Contact your healthcare provider if your oxygen saturation reads 92 percent or lower. Seek medical help immediately if it reads 88 percent or lower, as this signals your body isn’t getting enough oxygen.
Note that cold skin, dark nail polish, and poor circulation can skew results (warming up your hands before retesting can help).
According to Tang, wearable tech and pulse oximeters can add useful data to your symptom journal, but he recommends not relying on them solely since many factors can throw off readings.
Read the full article here
