One of the many diseases that can befall the heart is something called infective endocarditis. The heart is a strong but delicate instrument, and diseases such as this can inflict great damage and cause you much pain and discomfort. It is important, therefore, to learn of the causes of diseases such as infective endocarditis. Learning the causes will educate you so thatyou can either avoid heart disease altogether, or treat it quickly and effectively if you already suffer from it.
Infective endocarditis comes in two kinds: chronic endocarditis, and acute endocarditis.
Acute endocarditis is endocarditis that has only recently occurred in your body. Chronic endocarditis is endocarditis that has been accruing for a long time.
The causes of infective endocarditis are bacteria and other microorganisms entering your bloodstream and flowing through it. Normally, you don’t get microorganisms in your bloodstream. You can get them in other places, such as your mouth and urinary tract, but microorganisms in your bloodstream are quite unusual.
It is possible to have microorganisms in your bloodstream and not be effected negatively by them. However, microorganisms in your bloodstream can also cause infective endocarditis by attaching themselves to your heart.
If microorganisms attach themselves to your heart, and thus cause infective endocarditis, and those microorganisms are allowed to sit there and fester and grow and grow, terrible things can occur. These terrible things include irregular heartbeat, blood clot, and heart attack, all of which can lead to extreme discomfort and even death.
Fortunately, your body has a plan in case this happens. What it does is send immune cells and platelets to the infected place, where they form into a matter that should heal and protect the heart.
But sometimes this plan can backfire. The cells and platelets will attack the causes of infective endocarditis, that is, the bacteria and microorganisms growing there, and instead of destroying them altogether they will actually have some of the harmful stuff trapped beneath them.
When microorganisms become trapped beneath the immune cells and platelets, chunks form there that doctors call vegetation. This vegetation can block the bloodstream and stop healthy blood from flowing to the necessary organs. When this occurs, you are in trouble. It is then that the terrible effects of heart disease will show themselves.
People who stand most in danger of suffering the causes of infective endocarditis include those who were born with heart problems, those who suffered severe heart problems in their childhood, and those who already have damaged valves or have recently had a valve replaced in surgery.
Symptoms of infective endocarditis include heart disease-like symptoms (chest pain, strange heartbeats, numbness, etc.) and fever-like symptoms (rash, high temperature, loss of sleep, swellings, etc.). Weight loss, red spots on the hands and feet, and red sores on the fingertips are also signs that you may be suffering from infective endocarditis.
These signs or some combination of them may mean that you should see your doctor right away. The causes of infective endocarditis can do great damage to your heart, and give you major problems down the road. Your doctor can test you and decide if the causes of infective endocarditis are there. Then he or she can get you into the process (including proper medication) of healing.
Your doctor will take blood samples to see if you have microorganisms in your bloodstream, and perform other tests, such as looking into your eyes for certain telltale spots there. A combination of tests will tell him or her whether or not you’re suffering from infective endocarditis, and what to do about it if you are.