A – Z about Heart Murmurs

Heart murmurs are those sounds that make your heartbeat sound unnatural or unusual. Murmurs might range from anything to a rather faint to a very loud swooshing noise. A normal heartbeat will sound like ‘lub-DUB’, and this is the sound of the valves closing while the blood moves through the person’s heart.

A heart murmur isn’t necessarily a disease, but it is generally the sound heard by the doctor, when he checks you using a stethoscope. In some cases, it might be perfectly normal, but in others, it might be a sign that something is utterly wrong. In most cases, a heart murmur will be harmless; and in others, it might be an indication of a heart problem. This becomes even truer if there are other signs and symptoms of a heart problem that are present.

Types of Heart Murmurs –

• Innocent murmurs
  These types are generally harmless. People with an innocent murmur will generally have a normal heart; and no other signs and symptoms of heart diseases or problems will accompany them. Innocent murmurs are a common phenomenon in healthy children.
• Abnormal murmurs
  A person who has a case of abnormal murmur will generally end up displaying signs or symptoms that correspond to other heart problems. Congenital heart defects might cause abnormal murmurs among children. In the case of adults, abnormal murmurs might be caused due to valve problems with the heart; and these are generally caused by disease, infections or aging.

Causes of Heart Murmurs –

Innocent Heart Murmurs -

Heart murmurs are generally heard when blood flows through the heart very noisily. These murmurs might sometimes occur when –

• The flow of blood is faster than the usual speed that it flows at through the blood vessels and the heart.
• There is a subsequent amount of increase in the blood which flows through the heart.

These diseases and problems might cause for an increase in the speed of blood flow –

• Anemia
• Fever
• Hyperthyroidism

Most children would have suffered from heart murmurs at some point in time of their lives or the other. The most common cause for adult heart murmurs can be pinpointed at pregnancy. Most pregnant women will suffer from innocent murmurs. This is because the body is producing extra blood when they’re pregnant.

Aging and heart surgery could also contribute to innocent murmurs.

Abnormal Heart Murmurs –

The commonest cause of abnormal heart murmurs would include that of congenital heart defects. These end up occurring when the blood vessels that are attached to the heart or the valves of the heart do no develop in a normal fashion before the birth of the baby. This will cause a number of heart defects to occur in the baby. Common defects which are caused by murmurs will include the following –

• Congenital septal defects
  These are holes in the wall, which end up separating the left and the right sides of the heart. These will account for a good half of the abnormal murmur cases in children.
• Congenital valve defects
  These include narrow valves which do not allow for enough blood to flow through and end up causing for leaking valves, which will then not close properly.