Noises in the heart.
The words " noises in the heart of " frighten parents. One should realize that most heart murmurs do not testify to anything serious. Speaking in general, heart murmurs come in three main varieties: acquired, congenital and functional( or harmless).
Most of the noise acquired in childhood is associated with rheumatism, which inflames the heart valves and they can later form scars. This causes them to "leak" or interfere with the normal flow of blood. When a doctor hears a noise in the heart that was not there before, this may mean, on the one hand, that there is active rheumatic inflammation. In this case, there are other signs of infection, such as temperature, rapid pulse, accelerated ROE( erythrocyte sedimentation reaction).The doctor treats such a child with medications and keeps him on bed rest until all the signs of inflammation disappear, even if it takes months. On the other hand, if for a while there are no signs of infection, the noise in the heart can be explained by the scar remaining from the previous attack.
In previous years with a child with old noises in the heart treated for years as a semi-disabled, forbidden to engage in mobile games and sports, although there were no signs of active infection. Nowadays, doctors believe that a child without signs of active infection can gradually return to normal life( including games and light sports), if the healed scars do not interfere with the work of the heart. There are two reasons for this.
Muscles of the heart, if not suffering from inflammation, strengthen with physical activity. Even more important is the normal state of the child's spirit. He should not feel sorry for himself, should not consider himself useless and different from the rest. However, such a child should severely regularly take medicine to prevent a new streptococcal infection.
Noises caused by congenital heart disease are usually detected immediately at birth or for the next several months( very rarely in the next few years).Such noise is usually caused not by inflammation, but it means that the heart is wrongly arranged. It is not so much noise that is important, how much, whether the deformation prevents the normal work of the heart. If it interferes, the child may get bored with seizures, too fast breathing, or it will grow too slowly.
A child with congenital heart murmurs should be carefully examined by specialists. In some serious cases, one has to resort to surgery.
If a child with congenital heart murmurs can endure physical stress, does not get blue and does not suffer from shortness of breath, if he grows normally, it is important for his emotional development that he is not treated as a patient and that he is allowed to lead a normal life. He should avoid infections, he should be treated carefully for diseases, but the same applies to all children.
The term functional( or innocuous) noise means that noise does not come from heart disease and not from inflammation in case of infection. Such noises very are common and the first years of life. When a child reaches adolescence, they usually disappear. The doctor will tell you about such noises from your child, and if later a new doctor discovers them, you should tell him what you know.