Top 20 causes of heart murmur
The Main Causes of Heart Murmur that lead to this heart disease are unknown to many people. Also, a heart murmur is the name for a noise that can be heard (“auscultated” in technical terms) from the chest during a physical exam. A heart murmur is a result of blood passing through a hole that is smaller than it should. It sounds like the sound of someone blowing in your ear or a crack in an open window.
The murmur happens when some heart valve (we have four) has a reduced passage hole (stenosis) or when it does not close properly and lets the blood back through a small hole (insufficiency). A heart murmur in itself is not a disease, but it does indicate that you have a problem with your heart health .
The heart murmur can be congenital or appear with advanced age, due to degeneration of a valve. It can also happen as a sequel of endocarditis or after a heart attack, due to valve or heart muscle injury. Sometimes the heart murmur is functional, as in fever and hyperdynamic states, and disappears when the cause of blood acceleration is corrected. So, check out the Top 20 Causes of Heart murmur now.
Causes of Heart Murmur: A heart murmur can be normal or abnormal. In the first case, common in babies in children, the patient has ahealthy heart . An abnormal heart murmur is more serious. In children, abnormal murmurs are usually caused by congenital heart disease. In adults, abnormal murmurs are usually due to heart valve disease. A normal murmur can occur when blood flows more quickly through the heart . Conditions that can cause rapid blood flow through the heart include:
- Physical activity or exercise
- Pregnancy
- Fever
- Changes in the structure of the heart, such as heart surgery
- Not having enough healthy red blood cells to carry enough oxygen to the body’s tissues (anemia)
- An excessive amount of thyroid hormone in your body (hyperthyroidism).
Normal heart murmurs may disappear over time, or they may last a lifetime without ever causing further health problems. While most heart murmurs are not serious, some may result from a heart problem. The most common cause of abnormal murmurs in children is when babies are born with structural heart problems (congenital heart disease). Common birth defects that cause heart murmurs include:
Septal defects, which are a kind of hole in the walls between the heart chambers. Abnormalities in the heart valve . Examples include valves that do not allow enough blood to pass through (stenosis) or valves that do not close properly and leak. Other causes of an abnormal heart murmur include infections and conditions that damage the heart ‘s structures , and are more common in older children or adults. For example:
- Rheumatic fever;
- Endocarditis;
- Valve calcification;
- Mitral valve prolapse;
- Risk factors.
For heart murmur , risk factors include:
- Family history heart disease;
- Illnesses during pregnancy;
- The use of certain medications, alcohol or drugs during pregnancy;
- Hypertension;
- History of rheumatic fever;
- Radiotherapy close to the chest ;
- anterior endocarditis;
- previous infarction;
- Pulmonary hypertension;
- Weak heart muscle , which can be caused by a condition known as cardiomyopathy.
Heart murmur symptoms : caused by heart murmurs can vary from one individual to another, depending on the origin and severity of the problem, but problems such as:
- Purple fingertips, tongue and lips (cyanosis)
- Chest pains ;
- Dizziness and fainting;
- Tiredness;
- excessive sweating;
- Heartbeat faster than usual ;
- Cardiac insufficiency;
- Swelling.
- In children, lack of appetite, weight loss and developmental problems can also occur.
Prevention of Heart Murmur: Murmur is a relatively normal condition in newborns and young children. So there’s no reason to panic. As the baby grows, this situation tends to reverse spontaneously. It often disappears after a few days of birth.
Tonsillitis is the main cause of rheumatic fever, responsible for several heart valve injuries. With this, it is extremely important that all cases of tonsillitis are treated seriously and that the use of antibiotics is not discontinued prematurely.
In case of fainting, look for a doctor immediately for diagnosis. Heart murmurs can be great indicators that something is wrong with the heart . Although it cannot be predictable in certain cases, the murmur needs to be monitored to verify the causes of your problem. Serious health complications can be alleviated or avoided with an early diagnosis.
Treatment for heart murmur : When it is considered simple and without harm to health, it does not need treatment and allows the patient to have an unrestricted life. This usually happens in children who do not have any other heart disease or in pregnant women, without causing harm to the pregnancy or the fetus. However, when the heart murmur is caused by a disease from birth or acquired throughout life, treatment can be done by taking medication and, in the most serious cases, by surgery to correct the problem.
Know when the surgery should be done. It is important to remember that other less serious conditions, such as anemia, can also cause a heart murmur . In these cases, anemia should be treated immediately so that the murmur disappears.