Monday, May 13, 2013

What To Do When You Suspect A Heart Murmur

By Brian Buxton


A heart murmur is just an atypical or extra sound in the regular beat of a person or animal. When your doctor, by using their stethoscope, detects unusual or additional sounds, it's only natural to be concerned. It's good to know though that the majority are harmless, unrelated to any heart disease and are really quite common. Murmurs don't produce symptoms, and you could have had these sounds for years without detection or it causing you any problems.

Murmurs are extremely common in otherwise totally healthy children. Though words like 'congenital defects' sound rather frightening, this is in no way uncommon or a reason for major worry. When these atypical noises emerge in an adult's beat as a new pathology, however, there could be an underlying illness, and further test should be done.

It is important to be aware of how the sounds are made. A usual beat is made up of two clear sounds, which make a 'lub dub' noise. This is, simply, the sound made by two sets of valves within the organ opening then closing quickly after one another, as your blood is pumped around within your heart. When murmurs happen, the sound may not be the same, or carry extra noise. When the blood doesn't flow in and out of the valves smoothly, doctors will hear sounds caused by turbulence.

This may be, but certainly isn't always, because of damage to the organ valves. These valves may be affected by lots of conditions, including aging alone, certain diseases and infections. It's very important to keep hold of the fact that the condition, on it's own is not a disease. It may, however, be created by one.

Functional or innocent murmurs don't need medical treatment and are usually completely harmless, without symptoms. There's no need for changes to diet or physical activity levels. Though, naturally good food and lots of exercise puts you in better shape to prevent disease of any kind to this organ. So is avoiding stress, so try not to panic if your doctor detects something.

The treatment if this suddenly occurs, when you've been having regular listening in to your heart, is dependent on any underlying causes. Relatively straightforward conditions that can be resolved easily and do create the condition include Anemia, high fevers, hyperthyroidism and yes - pregnancy. Though the latter can only be resolved in nine months.

Diseases that need quick detection and even surgery include Endocarditis, a hole, Valve Sclerosis, Stenosis and regurgitation. The valve conditions labeled here represent abnormal valve conditions. You rarely detect the condition by yourself, but just be aware of your physical health and seek immediate advice on suffering chest pains or shortness of breath.

Infections that can harm the valves can be as simple as Strep Throat, or as rare as the now almost eradicated rheumatic fever. An easy course of strong antibiotics is the usual prescription. Children who are born with major heart irregularities or with holes in the organ tend to have surgery when they're still babies. The underlined message, from all doctors, is that a heart murmur is in very many cases innocent, benign, not requiring treatment and not something to be worried over.




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