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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Would Hole In The Heart Cause Heart Attack And Stroke? Occasionally, you might hear from people around you or from some medical news regarding someone with a “hole in the heart”. And you might probably be curious that how can a person with a hole in the heart survive. Hole in the heart is actually a congenital heart disease, a disorder in which one’s heart has a problem in its structure when he or she was born. So it can be a layman's term to describe an actual hole in the walls separating the heart chambers, or it can also be a general term to describe a structural abnormality of the heart. While the exact reasons have not yet known, congenital heart disease tends to run in families. Other things that might make them more likely include problems with genes in the child like Down syndrome, taking certain medications or alcohol or drug abuse during pregnancy, and a viral infection in the mother during the first trimester of pregnancy. The heart can be viewed as a house with 4 rooms. The top 2 rooms are called atrium and the bottom 2 rooms are called ventricles. The wall that separates the top 2 rooms is called the atrial septum and the wall that separates the bottom 2 rooms is called the ventricular septum. The top and bottom rooms of the heart are separated by intel valves. An outlet valve, which is called the pulmonary valve, allows blood to be pumped from the right lower room to the lungs. The outlet door that allows blood to pump from the left lower room is called the aortic valve. A hole in wall between the top rooms is called an atrial septal defect (ASD) and a hole in the wall between the bottom two rooms is called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). But hole in the heart may include not only holes between separating walls but also abnormal connection between the rooms, and abnormality of the doors and blood vessels.
VSD, which accounts for about 30 percent of all congenital heart defects, is the most common one. Other defects, which include ASD, pulmonary valve stenosis (narrowing of the right outlet door), aortic valve stenosis (narrowing of the left outlet door) and patent ductus arteriosus (persistence of a communication between the 2 major blood vessels of the heart), are in the range of 6 percent to 10 percent. Complications can arise from hole in heart. For those with VSD, a large defect can result in heart failure, failure to gain weight, recurrent respiratory infections and damage to the blood vessels in the lung. ASD, on the other hand, can lead to right heart failure, arrhythmias, stroke, pulmonary hypertension (increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries). There is also a risk of infection of the heart. Some people with hole in the heart might not be aware of their condition at all, others might have symptoms like shortness of breath and problems with exercise. People with a hole in their heart could have a stroke or a transient ischemic attack if they have a blood clot in their leg (deep venous thrombosis) because the blood clot could travel from the right side of the heart to the left side through the hole in the heart. However, there is no correlation between having a hole in the heart and being at risk for a heart attack. In general, patients who have cardiac risk factors such as smoking, a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes mellitus or elevated blood sugar, inactivity, and being overweight, are at a higher risk of a heart attack. For heart attack prevention, it is necessary to control one’s risk of heart disease. The preventive measures include having regular exercise, having a healthy diet, and maintaining healthy weight or, losing weight if one is overweight. Furthermore, blood pressure should be monitored, and cholesterol and blood sugar should be in check, with or without medication.
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