Rheumatic Heart Disease

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Rheumatic Heart Disease is an illness that occurs when the heart muscle is damaged due to rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever is known as an inflammatory disease that will affect many areas of the body in addition to the heart. Other areas that can be affected are the brain, skin and joints. In the case of the heart, however, rheumatic fever, silently damages the valves to the point where they are not doing their job of regulating blood flow into, and out of, the heart. If you have had rheumatic fever in the past then it is a good idea to get checked for rheumatic heart disease. The disease can quietly cause many symptoms in a person that can slowly lead to heart failure. The important thing to remember is that if you are experiencing any of the symptoms to head to your doctor right away to get checked out.

Symptoms of Rheumatic Heart Disease

In most cases a person who gets rheumatic heart disease will have had rheumatic fever, and before that strep throat. If the strep throat is not properly cared for it can turn into rheumatic fever which can turn into rheumatic heart disease. The symptoms of rheumatic fever will begin to show up about three weeks after the symptoms of strep throat show up.
* Fever.
* Swollen and painful joints all over the body.
* Pain that starts in one joint but suddenly jumps to another joint without warning.
* Heart palpitations and a rapid heartbeat.
* Shortness of breath or trouble breathing during normal activities.
* Skin rashes all over the body.
* Extreme fatigue at all points during the day.
* Nodules under the skin that are small and pain free.

Preventing Rheumatic Heart Disease

* Treat strep throat with penicillin in order to prevent rheumatic fever from developing.
* Continuous antibiotic treatment until the symptoms of rheumatic fever subside.
* Living a healthy lifestyle. Take care of your body so your body takes care of you.

If you have been diagnosed with rheumatic fever then you are at risk for developing rheumatic heart disease. The disease can occur at any point in life even after you rid yourself of rheumatic fever. Since the onset is quick and sudden, it is important to take the time to properly monitor the condition with your doctor. If you are diagnosed with rheumatic heart disease your doctor will be able to get you on a treatment plan that can help to minimize the potential of serious consequences.

Symptoms of Heart Disease

Symptoms of Heart Disease

No single can be branded as Symptoms of Heart Disease. Then it no one single reason that indicates a heart disorder. There are certain symptoms that suggest the possibility of heart disease. Together they make the diagnosis almost certain. Doctors identify Symptoms of Heart Disease by interviewing the person to obtain the medical history and by performing a physical examination. Often, diagnostic procedures are performed to confirm the result of the diagnosis. However, sometimes a heart disorder, even when serious, produces no symptoms until it reaches a late stage. Routine health checkups or a visit to the doctor for some other reason may uncover a heart disorder that has caused no Symptoms of Heart Disease, earlier. Sometimes doctors perform procedures to screen for a heart disorder even when there is no evidence of it.

The Symptoms of Heart Disease include certain types of pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, palpitation or irregular heartbeats, light-headedness, fainting, and swelling in the legs, ankles, and feet. However, these symptoms do not necessarily indicate a heart disorder. For example, chest pain may be due to a respiratory or digestive disorder rather than to a heart disorder. But as soon as you experience any of the above mentioned complains you must consult your doctor for confirmation. Peripheral Symptoms of Heart Disease and blood vessel disorders vary depending on where the affected blood vessels are located. These symptoms may include pain, muscle fatigue, muscle cramps, light-headedness, swelling, numbness, shortness of breath, and a change in skin color of the affected part of the body.

Chest pain is the most prominent Symptoms of Heart Disease. Immediately life-threatening causes include a heart attack, separation of the layers of the aorta's wall, that is known as aortic dissection, rupture of the esophagus, a blood clot in the lungs, and a type of collapsed lung in which pressure builds up enough to obstruct blood flow returning to the heart. Pain may occur when tissues do not get enough blood, this condition is called ischemia. Pain occurs because the tissues do not get enough oxygen that is carried to tissues by the blood, and also because waste products, which are carried away from tissues by the blood, accumulate. Other Symptoms of Heart Diseases are: Discomfort, pressure, heaviness, or pain in the chest, arm or below the breastbone, Discomfort radiating to the back, throat, jaw or arm, Extreme weakness, anxiety or shortness of breath, Rapid or irregular heartbeats, Fullness, indigestion or choking feeling, he may also feel heartburn, Sweating, vomiting, nausea, or dizziness.

During a heart attack, symptoms last for 30 minutes or longer and are not relieved by rest or oral medications. Initial symptoms started as a mild discomfort that then it progresses to significant pain. Swelling is due to the accumulation of fluid in tissues. Swelling is another important Symptoms of Heart Disease. It occurs when blood puddles in the leg veins, increasing pressure in the leg veins and forcing fluids out of the veins into tissues.

Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy

Large number of people are falling victim to heart disease. One of the main reasons of the increase in the number of heart patient is the changing lifestyle. Various types of heart disease are effecting people in large number. The symptoms of each type of heart disease is different. One of the most common types of heart disease is Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy. It is a disease of the heart muscle. This is caused when the heart muscle becomes weak. Cardiomyopathy or heart muscle disease is a major public health problem. There are 3 million people in United States currently living with cardiomyopathy. Almost 400,000 people are diagnosed with heart disease each year. This disease has become a prime factor in contributing quarter million deaths in the world. In the past few years the incidence of cardiomyopathy is increasing like anything. Many complications of the disease can be overcome if the patient understand their disease. The patient suffering from Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy must take active participation in treating the disease. The heart muscle become very weak in most cases of alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

There are many disorders which cause numerous types of cardiomyopathy. But whatever may be the type ultimately the same thing happen which is the inefficiency of the heart muscle. It reduces the capacity of the heart to meet the needs of the body. The heart failure happens when the heart can no longer pump enough blood. The cases of Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy is increasing day by day. The main cause of cardiomyopathy is the coronary artery disease. The damage to the heart can be on the region of the heart muscles. One must get themselves diagnosed properly. Go for a proper diet and god exercise which can help the patient to avoid certain complications. As alcoholic cardiomyopathy is caused by excessive consumption of alcohol for long time. It is caused by the direct toxic effects of alcohol. In that case the heart become inefficient and the heart become unable to pump the blood. Not only heart is effected by the Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy but other body parts can also be effected by this. The symptoms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy are decreased alertness or concentration, Shortness of breath, decreased urine output, loss of appetite; ankle, feet, and leg swelling; cough containing mucus, irregular or rapid pulse, breathing difficulty while lying down, overall swelling, weakness, fatigue, faintness, etc. The moment patient is experiencing these symptoms it become necessary to take him to the hospital.

One of the most important treatment for alcoholic cardiomyopathy is to improve the lifestyle and take care of the diet. Stop consuming alcohol. The commonly used medications must be used daily like beta blockers, diuretics and ACE inhibitors. The patient who are suffering from congestive heart failure must o for a surgical insertion. The patients of alcoholic cardiomyopathy must frequently consult the doctor and must continue with the medications. With latest drugs and technology coming up now one can easily diagonise the alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

Symptoms of congestive heart failure

 
 









Symptoms of congestive heart failure have a great impact on a person’s life, considering this is a progressive and eventually fatal medical condition. Nowadays, in the economic well developed countries, people die because of the heart problems, more then they do from any other cause. It is important to know that symptoms of congestive heart failure have a fluctuating evolution: there are episodes with severe symptoms, followed by long periods of time when the situation is stable, nevertheless, even if people recover from the acute phase, they can’t return to the previous level of functionality. Also, it is very important to mention that is difficult to predict how much time is left to live once the diagnosis is established, because sudden death isn’t uncommon in these patients. Heart failure is not just a disease of an one individual, but a disease that affects the entire family.

What do you know about symptoms of congestive heart failure?

If you are one of the patients suffering from congestive heart failure, you should be informed about the symptoms of congestive heart failure and when to sick medical help. Every readmission to the hospital will increase mortality; there are medical articles that suggest a 20-30% increase of this risk with every readmission. You may experience shortness of breath during effort (exertion dyspnea), during night (nocturnal paroxysmal dyspnea) or even when you rest( in the advanced stages of the congestive heart failure). At the beginning, shortness of breath occurs only during great effort, but in time, daily activities that once were performed very easily, like dressing, shaving, eating etc, can produce shortness of breath and force the patient to give up on his/her social life and depend on other person’s help. Another form of rest dyspnea is orthopnea, meaning that you can’t breathe while lying in the bed and you require elevation of the head with pillows.
Other symptoms of congestive heart failure are palpitations, rapid heart beats, fatigue, fainting, blue coloring of the lips or limb extremities, accumulation of water in the limbs tissues (this  condition is called edema) lungs, pleural and abdominal cavities, heart murmurs.
Because heart can’t deliver enough blood to muscles, patients will experience weakness and heaviness in the limbs. A low blood flow to the kidneys will determine oliguria (diminished amount of urine), this condition appears in advanced stages, when the cardiac output is severely reduced.
Cerebral manifestations of low cardiac output are also symptoms of congestive heart failure: headaches, insomnia, confusion, memory impairment, anxiety or nightmares. In more severe cases, patients experience other symptoms of congestive heart failure that require special medical care: hallucinations, delirium, disorientation.
In the end, we will present a list with a few symptoms of congestive heart failure, which may guide patients to require medical help (they were published in a guide for caregivers, by The Washington Home Center for Palliative Care Studies):

• gain of 3 pounds or more within a few days or a week,
• increased swelling in hands, ankles or feet,
• difficulty breathing at any time or coughing at night,
• decreased urination,
• confusion, dizziness, or faintness,
• nausea or vomiting,
• increased fatigue,
• muscle cramps or weakness,
• any distressing symptom.

For more info on symptoms of congestive heart failure check with your doctor.

Rapid heart beats after eating -worry or not

Rapid heart beats after eating - what should we be worried about?

Rapid heart beats

Some people experience rapid heart beats after eating and this can create an important discomfort as they begin to be afraid or avoid eating in order to prevent these irregular heart beats to occur. Others are worried they might have a heart disease that causes palpitations and sick medical help. In the next part of the article we will find out what is the meaning of these palpitation and how can we prevent them.
After a meal, the digestion process requires more blood in the stomach and intestine and that’s why the heart has to pump more blood in these organs. The process consisting in increasing the amount of blood in the abdominal area after a meal is very important as it helps the body to assimilate food. This routine activity can determine palpitations, because heart has to work harder then usually. Until now, heart palpitation after eating seems to be a normal manifestation that can occur during a daily physiological process of our body.
Along with palpitation, after eating there are other manifestations that can also occur:

• nausea
•  dizziness-it occurs because cerebral blood flow is reduced, as the stomach needs more blood then usually in order to digest the food.
•  fatigue or even exhaustion (the blood will accumulate in the digestive system, while other organs and among them, the brain, will receive a smaller amount of blood)
• chest pain after eating- many times, patient with coronary disease (chronic heart ischemia determined by deprivation of oxygen) can have a chest pains after eating
•  sweating
• insomnia-if you sleep immediately after a meal, you may have problems to fall asleep. Because during night digestion and digestive secretion used in this process are diminished, you may get indigestion with abdominal discomfort, nausea and vomiting.
•  shortness of breath-the stomach is full of food and presses against diaphragma, restricting lung expansion during breathing
•  abdominal discomfort-if we eat too much or meals which are difficult to digest

If we experience rapid heart beats after eating should we seek for medical help?

Even if sometimes, heart palpitation after eating it is a normal manifestation, there are other causes for this condition, which need to be evaluated and treated. The answer is yes, if we experience heart palpitation after eating we should pay a visit to our doctor and check if there is something wrong.
What is the cause for heart palpitations after eating?

•  sudden consumption of food after a long period of starvation. This is often seen in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, when after a long time of not eating, they start the consumption of food, the level of blood sugar increases rapidly, followed by increased secretion of insulin, which can create arrhythmia and also decreases blood sugar. The rapid decrease of blood sugar will stimulate the secretion of adrenaline, which will stimulate heart activity and create palpitation (it is like when you hurry up a person and it is obviously that in some point she will do mistakes)
•  hiatal hernia– a small portion of the stomach protrudes into the chest through diaphragm (the muscle that separates chest from abdomen and looks like a roof). This condition is usually associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease and may lead to chest pain and palpitations.
•  obesity- usually these persons have a diet with lot of sugar and caffeine, with a sedentary lifestyle and they can experience palpitation and chest pain. Their body has a lot of fats and these fats will deposit on the blood vessels wall, blocking them and generating heart disease (coronary arteries disease-with deprivation of blood and oxygen in the heart tissues). Also, the heart has to work extra hard to pump blood into their stomach.
•  hormonal imbalance could be a possible cause of heart palpitation after eating. For example hyperthyroidism (a thyroid disorder with high level of hormones) determines heart palpitation, tachycardia, chest pain, shortness of breath etc.
•  Severe anemia can affect heart and determine tachycardia (rapid heart rate) or irregular heart beats. Because there is a small number of oxygen carriers, heart will try to pump the blood faster and faster in order to satisfy the tissues need for blood and oxygen. In the same time, heart needs oxygen for itself, working harder with less oxygen it is a very good condition for palpitation to occur. Persons that avoid eating meat, can have anemia, as the meat is the main source of iron.

How can we treat rapid heart beats after eating?

Preventing heart palpitation after eating should first start with a moderate diet and by this we mean to eat moderate amounts of food at regular intervals. It is not advisable to eat one meal after we starved ourselves an entire day. Regular meals in small proportion, regular exercise, losing weight and periodically check of the hormones level (since hormonal imbalance can determine heart dysfunction) are the solution to this medical issue.

Heart pain in women

Heart pain in women: a symptom that begins to trouble most frequently after menopause, when due to the absence of  estrogen hormones, women lose their „natural” protection against cardiovascular events. According to the studies made among patients with heart attack, heart pain in women is not a hallmark symptom as it is in men. This means that during a heart attack, heart pain in women is less likely to occur and we must pay attention to other signs and symptoms if we don’t want to miss a heart disorder. Although women lose their protection against cardiovascular disease after menopause, estrogen replacement must be indicated only in well selected cases, because this treatment can determine breast or endometrial cancer, blood cloths and stroke etc.

How can estrogen hormones prevent heart pain in women?

It is simple. Estrogen has an important role in lipid metabolism: these hormones decrease the level of LDL-cholesterol and increase the HDL cholesterol (also called „the healthy” cholesterol as it protects against atherosclerosis). Estrogens tend to decrease serum cholesterol concentrations and to increase serum triglyceride concentrations. The overall effect of these changes, together with the effects on blood vessels, is to protect against atherosclerosis and heart pain in women before menopause. As atherosclerosis is the most important cause for heart attacks and chronic heart ischemia (heart disease caused by insufficient oxygenation of the heart tissues, which occurs when blood vessels are blocked by atherosclerosis) it is clear now why estrogen is so important and how can this hormone prevent heart pain in women.

Heart pain in women, what does it mean?

Heart pain in women or chest pain are very often among old patients and challenge the doctor to consider a lot of differential diagnosis, although sometimes it is almost impossible to separate them. For example, a pathology of the spine that presses nerve roots can determine an intense pain, sometimes unbearable, radiating towards the abdomen or chest and can easily mimic a heart pain. An esophagitis with burning sensation in the chest, can be mistaken as a heart symptom, but it responds well to the medication used in ulcer treatment and the duration of symptoms is variable. Heart pain in women doest mean necessary that it is a heart attack, sometimes it is caused by a heart muscle infection or disorder. Other causes for heart pain are abnormal dilated blood vessels called aneurism or chest trauma. In some patients, during heart attack, the pain is felt in the upper part of the abdomen and it can be confused with a stomach or liver disease (like ulcer, gastritis etc.).

How do we manage heart pain?

Heart pain it is always a very disturbing symptom, described by patients as a sensation of pressure on the chest or constriction, but sometimes, associated with palpitations (irregular heart beats), shortness of breath, fatigue, sweating, agitation or even fainting. In conclusion, heart pain in women and men  can be treated with beta-blockers (drugs that increase heart tissues oxygenation, an example of such a drug is metoprolole), calcium channels blockers (make heart blood vessels larger; e.g. amlodipine) or the well known nitroglycerin.

7 weeks pregnant symptoms

Pregnancy is a fascinating news for the future parents, as a child is a blessing for every family and a miracle of life. But every miracle has its own price and the nine month until it is brought to real life can be very exhausting for the mother as she has to make important changes in her life, together with the changes made in her body.
This article is mainly about the 7 weeks pregnant symptoms but we should specify that many times women find out they are pregnant after they are investigated for tiredness, morning sickness, nausea and vomiting (many times confused with a digestive disorder). Once they find out they are pregnant they begin to be worried about what is going to happen next, “is the baby all right?” ”doesn’t he/she suffering from a malformation”, “when will he/she move?”, “how does it feel when u have contractions”, “how will I gave birth, where?” etc. These are only a few questions young mother ask more often, but there are many others.

The main 7 weeks pregnant symptoms

What are the 7 weeks pregnant symptoms ? Before we enumerate  the 7 weeks  pregnant symptoms we should mention some information about the baby. At this age, your baby will measure about 4-5 mm, but by the end of the week he/she will grow significantly to about 13 mm. Even if the changes in your body aren’t so obvious, you will feel pregnant as other symptoms occur. One of the 7 weeks pregnant symptoms is weight gain, even if at this point it is just 1 or 2 pounds.
Other 7 weeks pregnant symptoms-the baby’s growth: the uterus has doubled its size, the neural tube is closed and the development of brain begins in this week, also nasal cavities and mouth are forming. The heart is already formed and the heart valves are about to be completed, the future lungs are growing and the intestines and digestives system begin to take shape, as other glands. By the week 7, limbs are visible on the echography, even the future fingers and toes and by the end of the week a smooth layer of skin will develop.
The 7 weeks pregnant symptoms include varied signs and symptoms as we will see next. One of the most frequent manifestations among 7 weeks pregnant symptoms is morning sickness (a symptom that usually occurs between 2-8 weeks after conception). This is one of the 7 weeks pregnant symptoms but can occur even from the first week and will diminish in time. As it happens frequently in medicine, there are exceptions: some women don’t have morning sick, nausea or vomiting during pregnancy, while others deal these symptoms throughout all of their pregnancy. The morning sickness will grow stronger in  weeks, the nausea will be moderate, also vomiting frequently occurs. Digestive symptoms must be carefully managed, as pregnancy is often associated with appendicitis, cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) or urinary stones.

Other manifestations among 7 weeks pregnant symptoms:

• fatigue-a symptom that can occur early in the pregnancy, even from the first week. Pregnant women feel more tired, even if they don’t make any effort, and the need of lying down and sleep is more intense, but this doesn’t mean they are sick; it is simply one of the changes related to pregnancy.
• headaches-hormonal imbalance related to pregnancy is the cause of these symptoms that can occur early in the pregnancy and usually tend to go away in the second trimester. Lack of sleep or dehydration, smoking, strong odors, chocolate, coffee, stress tends to play also a role in this. Some of the women experience intense headaches or even migraine (before taking any medication, you should consult your doctor to see the risks and benefits)
• excessive salivation-it is more frequent in women that experience morning sick.
• metallic taste-it is a less frequent 7 weeks pregnant symptoms, caused by hormones imbalance, and usually goes away in the second trimester.
• frequent urination- it is normal and it is caused by hormones imbalance. Also the amount of blood is larger in pregnant women, so the kidneys have a lot more to work.
• swollen or tender breasts, darkening of areolas -may start after 1-2 weeks after conception.
• lower backaches
• food craving or food aversion to certain types of food that can last the entire pregnancy not just for 7 weeks pregnant symptoms.

As we saw above, 7 weeks pregnant symptoms vary from one woman to another and seem unbearable for outsiders, but these symptoms are all forgotten once the mother holds her “miracle” in her arms.

Leaking heart valve

Mortality and morbidity thought leaking heart valve are  an important part of cardiovascular pathology.  The main changes in  the study of leaking heart valve involves an evaluation of their function and etiology.
So, rheumatic etiology is declining, while the degenerative and ischemic etiology is growing.
Clinical evaluation methods have the same value (family history, physical examination), but some paraclinical methods ( cardiac ultrasound and Doppler) have an important role.

Types of leaking heart valve

Leaking heart valve may occur at the four heart valve: mitral valve, aortic valve, pulmonary valve and tricuspid valve.
The most common type of leaking heart valve is mitral regurgitation. It is characterized by regurgitation of blood in systole ( contraction of heart) from the left ventricle into the left atrium. There are two causes of mitral regurgitation: acute and chronic. The etiology of mitral regurgitation can be inflammatory, but also degenerative and structural. Chronic mitral regurgitation lead to expansion of left atrium.   Echocardiography provides important information in mitral regurgitation.
Another type of leaking heart valve is aortic regurgitation. It is incomplete closure of aortic valve in diastole (relaxation of heart). Aortic valves are affected primary by acute articular rheumatism, infectious endocarditis and degeneration and it can be acute or chronic.
Two other leaking heart valve are tricuspid regurgitation and pulmonary regurgitation. Tricuspid regurgitation is characterized by regurgitation of blood in systole from the right ventricle into the right atrium because of the incomplete closure of the tricuspid orifice.

Leaking heart valve symptoms

Symptoms of patients with   leaking heart valve depends on regurgitation grade and how to install (suddenly or gradually). Patients with small regurgitation can be asymptomatic. There are some  common  symptoms to the patients with leaking heart valve:
-          dyspnea on effort (shortness of breath or air hunger);
-          cough;
-          angina pectoris on effort (chest pain on effort) or at rest;
-          heart murmur;
-          heart palpitations (heart beats more than 90 per minute);
-          asthenia and adinamie;
-          fatigue;
-          rarely may occur syncope;
-          pale skin on  clinical examination.

Leaking heart valve diagnosis

Positive clinical diagnosis is based on present of heart murmur (systolic or diastolic) with different characters. Most used methods for diagnosis leaking heart valve are echocardiography, chest radiography, electrocardiography and Doppler exam.

Treatment and evolution of patients with leaking heart valve

Treatment of asymptomatic patients with leaking heart valve is not necessary. To the patients with symptoms should avoid exercise and salt. There are also treatments with drugs and surgery for leaking heart valve.
Evolution and prognosis of leaking heart valve depend on the importance blood reflux, of how to install (acute or chronic) and of the etiology. Patients with small or average regurgitation may remain asymptomatic a long time, but patients with complications (infectious endocarditis, atrial fibrillation) have obvious symptoms. Patients with acute leaking heart valve have serious prognosis.