What is the mitral valve?
The mitral valve is a small valve in your heart. It’s located between the upper and lower lefthand chambers. It can be compared to a little door that opens and shuts. When it opens, rich, strong, healthy blood rushes out to race to the different parts of your body that require it. When your body receives this blood it feels healthy and strong and vibrant. The reason the heart requires a little door is that the heart wants to regulate how much blood it’s pumping. Your heart is like any other machine, and needs rules and regulations to function properly. The mitral valve is a key component in the heart’s successful operation.
What, then, is mitral valve stenosis?
Mitral valve stenosis is a condition that affects the heart owing, usually, to certain childhood illnesses (more on this later). Mitral valve stenosis means that your little door isn’t working quite as well as it should. It’s opening just fine. It’s letting the blood flow out just fine. But when it comes to closing, the door is hesitating. It’s not shutting properly. This means that the blood that has just flowed out can now creep back in again. If the blood that has just flowed out creeps back in again, suddenly the smooth, efficient system, the order, the set of rules that your heart relies on to function properly, is unbalanced. Your heart has too much blood to deal with adequately. It’s only used to pumping so much blood, to beating so many times, it’s used to a certain rhythm, and mitral valve stenosis has shaken things up.
How do I get mitral valve stenosis?
Usually, mitral valve stenosis is the result of rheumatic fever that occurs in the bodies children. Rheumatic fever is related to the strep virus. It savages the heart, leaving cruel scars along it that affect the operations of the mitral valve.
What are the symptoms of mitral valve stenosis?
The symptoms of mitral valve stenosis are various. Some symptoms include dizziness, sudden shortness of breath, you don’t breathe as easily and smoothly as you used to. Other symptoms include dramatic things like chest pain, heavy coughing, even blood in your spittle. Symptoms of mitral valve stenosis include swollen feet and swollen ankles, you’re creaking along, you don’t feel like you do normally. It is possible, however, to feel none of these things; to feel perfectly fine; to feel just like you do on any old day – and still be suffering from mitral valve stenosis. Thus the importance of scheduling regular checkups with your doctor. He or she will administer certain tests to find out the condition of your heart.
How is mitral valve stenosis treated?
The good news is, if you’re six years old or sixty years old and suffering from mitral valve stenosis, your doctor can treat it, that is, take care of it, and alleviate your suffering and discomfort, and help you get back to normal. For milder cases of mitral valve stenosis your doctor can prescribe medication to regulate your blood flow and reduce symptoms such as chest pain. For more advanced cases, sometimes dramatic measures are required, such as surgery or replacing your mitral valve altogether. The treatment of mitral valve stenosis varies according to each case. Unlike some other heart diseases, however, mitral valve stenosis can receive treatment even in advanced cases. But it’s important to get in and see your doctor before something dramatic occurs. Mitral valve stenosis can worsen over time; it’s best to get it dealt with early.