Cardiovascular conditions are really tough on the health of the person. There are numerous number of heart diseases which can be very harmful to your body and can affect your nervous system as well. Enlarged heart is one of the conditions which can create issues with breathing and other blood problems. Not many people have symptoms of enlarged heart that can tell the difference between conditions. Let us look at some conditions that are caused by enlarged heart, and symptoms of this disease. We talked to Dr. Arun Goyal, Head of Cardiology, Ivory Hospital, Greater Noida.
What is condition of Enlarged Heart?
Enlarged heart is a condition in which your heart seems to be bigger than normal. This happens because of increase in flow of muscles gets abnormal. The chambers dilate in such a way that is causes symptoms of heart defect and problems related to it. Symptoms of enlarged heart are as such cardiovascular conditions that could posses threat to your health, this includes-
- Cardiomyopathy
- Heart valve problems
- High blood pressure
In the condition of enlarged heart, the heart is unable to pump enough blood inside the veins. Complication of enlarged heart can also lead a person to stroke and heart failure.
How does having enlarged heart affect your health?
Enlarged heart can put the person to severe problems and needs immediate treatment when diagnosed. This is important because enlarged heart can at anytime posses problems related to this condition can cause attack. Many people are unaware, that this heart condition does not create any particular symptoms. But it can develop conditions which increases your heart size-
- It results to shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Swelling in the heart
- Blood clots
- Irregular heart rhythm
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Symptoms of Enlarged Heart
As mentioned earlier, enlarged heart does not show any particular symptoms, there are only general symptoms that can occur to people when there is some cardiovascular problem. Here are the symptoms after which you should get tested once-
- Dizziness
- Irregular heart beat
- Shortness of breath
- Swelling in the legs
- Fluid build-up in the ankles
- Chest pain
- Fainting
- Pain in the arms, back, neck and jaw
Causes of Enlarged Heart
There are two main reasons because of which enlarged heart can occur. Either it could be because of heart problem that develops over time or one that a person is born with from the beginning.
1. Cardiomyopathy
This heart condition is related to progressive heart disease which is categorised under several categories. Disease causes damage to the heart can affect your muscles and cause heart enlargement. Cardiomyopathy can be cause severe weakness in the body and can pump your heart flow.
2. Heart Valve Disease
Infections of several kinds are also caused because of connective tissues diseases. This includes damage to the heart valves and thus results to obstruction in blood flow in the heart. It can become very problematic over the years because it makes it harder for the person to push it out of the system. Heart valve disease can also become a cause of enlarged heart.
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3. Heart Attack
Heart attack is one of the commonly occurring heart conditions. This can cause severe damage to the functioning of the heart. Heart problems can be because of deficiency of oxygen in the body and heart muscles which can grow over years in your heart valves. During heart attack, the valves becomes damages completely and results to heart enlargement.
4. Thyroid disease
This disease could also pose a risk of having unregulated hormones in the body. Thyroid can affect metabolism of the person and overproduction of hormones in the body. Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can cause heart enlargement. Heart rate can also be affected because of blood pressure and size of the heart. Hence it could be a problematic reason which lasts for several months.
5. Irregular Heart Rhythm
If there are conditions that could create irregular heart rhythm then it could be threatening to health. Heart flutters or irregular beats can increase quickly and result to enlarged heart. Regular heart beats are important to determine the velocity of pumping of blood in the heart. An irregular heart rhythm can cause blood to obstruct in the heart and damage the muscles present in the heart over few months.
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