A Guide to Child Heart Disease

Heart disease is an incredibly important and serious issue, and it is very surprising just how many people do not realize that children can also suffer from heart disease. Child heart disease is actually quite a common ailment across the world, and congenital heart disease is actually one of the most common birth defects of all, affecting nearly one percent of all babies born.

Many of these infants are first diagnosed with child heart disease when their pediatrician hears a heart murmur on a routine examination.

Information on Child Heart Disease

For the most part how child heart disease works is that their heart can have a small abnormality that may or may not be noticeable at birth, and generally if there is a hole in the heart wall that lets blood travel from one side to the other then the baby will have blue lips or fingers.

There are also other problems which may be involved here, such as an abnormal heart valve, and this may result in allowing blood to flow the wrong way, and this is a problem which will usually require surgery once the child is older. While most are, some heart problems in children are not congenital, and so it is something that can never really be expected.

What a Heart Murmur is

A heart murmur is a noise that the blood makes as it flows through the heart, and it is sort of like the noise that water makes when it flows through a hose. Heart murmurs are common in children, some which are harmless, and others which are not.

Because a heart murmur is one of the most common signs of child heart disease, most parents get frantic at the term. However a lot of the time heart murmurs actually do not mean that there is anything wrong with your child, and these heart murmurs are known as being 'innocent' or 'functional'.

For the times that a heart murmur does actually indicate a problem with your child's heart, this is when there is a hole in the heart, a leak in the heart valve, or a narrow heart valve. If your doctor suspects that there is a problem, then the first thing they will do is refer you to a pediatric cardiologist, which is a doctor who specializes in child heart disease. The cardiologist will do an examination and do tests in order to find out whether there is actually a problem or not.

Recommended Reading

1. A Guide to Heart Disease Treatment - Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States as well as in other parts of the world,...
2. A Guide to the Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease - Heart disease is a number of abnormal conditions affecting the heart and the blood vessels in the heart, and coronary...
3. A Guide to Chronic Heart Disease - Heart disease is known as being the leading cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the United States, and chronic...
4. A Guide to Hypertensive Heart Disease - Hypertensive heart disease is basically a more serious and dangerous type of heart disease and it is typically caused by...
5. Understanding Surgery for Rheumatic Heart Disease - Rheumatic heart disease a condition in which the heart valves are damaged by rheumatic fever, which is an inflammatory disease...