We will look at other heart problems, a continuation of the previous article, which was about the heart, its anatomy and information on heart attacks.
Heart arrhythmia, a common problem, is caused by the improper action of electrical impulses that are responsible for coordinating the heartbeats, by either causing the heart to race, flutter, and miss, or skip a beat. Sometimes heart arrhythmia’s signs and symptoms can be quite bothersome and life threatening. A damaged or weak heart can make arrhythmia worse and troublesome.
Medical technology advances have added new procedures, treatments and processes to eliminate or control the arrhythmia. Changing to a heart healthy lifestyle will also assist in reducing the arrhythmia risk.
Heart failure (congestive heart failure) happens when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's requirements. Underlying conditions such as high blood pressure or coronary artery disease can leave the heart too stiff or weak to efficiently pump, by slowly sapping the heart of its strength.
Medications can improve symptoms and signs of chronic heart failure leading to survival but the condition cannot be reversed. Like most chronic illnesses, heart failure can improve with the changing of lifestyle by eating healthy and exercise which also improves the quality of life.
Mitral valve regurgitation (mitral valve prolapse) is a condition where the blood flows backwards into the heart. This is caused by the mitral valve that does not close tightly. When the valve does not work properly, the blood does not move through the body as efficiently as it should.
Mitral valve stenosis (mitral stenosis) with this disease the valve is blocked from opening properly and the blood flow is obstructed in the left chamber of the heart due to a condition where the heart mitral valve is narrowed. With the narrowed mitral valve the blood is unable to flow efficiently through the heart onto the rest of the body.
Symptoms are similar for both valve problems:
- Fatigue
- Shortness of breath
Treatments: are similar for both mitral valve problems, the valve may have to be repaired or replaced and if left untreated can lead to serious heart complications.
Medications:
Medications can calm the Mitral valve which improves the symptoms and the survival rate.
Heart Murmurs are abnormal sounds during a heart beat. The sound is made by turbulent blood near the heart making a swishing or whooshing noise. Most murmurs do not need treatment as they are quite harmless. These are called “innocent” murmurs and are often found in new babies and children. In fact most children have heart murmurs at sometime during their lives. In some children abnormal murmurs can be serious if they are due to congenital heart disease. Abnormal murmurs in adults are usually caused by valve problems.
Treatments:
1. Innocent Heart Murmurs usually do not require treatment unless they are caused by hyperthyroidism or fever. Once the condition is treated, the murmurs go away.
2. Abnormal Heart Murmurs treatment is not usually given at first. Depending on what is causing the heart problem the doctor will monitor the condition for a while and may prescribe either medication or surgery.
Signs and Symptoms: Although most people are not aware that they have a heart murmur, the following signs would prompt the doctor to order diagnostic tests.
- Skin that turns blue on both lips and finger tips.
- Swelling.
- Shortness of breath.
- Enlarged liver.
- Enlarge neck veins
- Poor appetite.
- Weight gain.
- Heavy sweating for no reason.
- Chest pains.
- Dizziness.
- Fainting.
Medication:
Depending on the type of heart condition medications are given to ease or help the following symptoms.
- To help your heart pump harder.
- Prevent blood clots (which can cause blocked blood vessels).
- Prevent fluid retention.
- Lower blood pressure.
Surgery is used to:
- To patch a hole in the heart.
- Fix a valve.
- Rebuild blood vessels
- Widen a narrow blood vessel.
Diagnostic Testing:
- When the murmurs happen.
- The length of time they last.
- The murmurs' pitch: high, medium or low.
- How loud a sound it makes
- Where the heart is actually situated.
Additional Tests:
- Chest X-ray.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG).
- Echocardiogram.
- Ultrasound.
- Cardiac catheterization.
- Endocarditic
- Valve calcification.
Next week's article will be on strokes. Even though it does not follow the alphabet of chronic illness, it is caused by irregularities in the circulatory system.
For more information: www.heartandstroke.ca www.bhf.org.uk, www.americanheart.org,
