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February 22nd is National Heart Valve Awareness Day

Published on 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

 | Miscellaneous 

February 22nd each year is National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. This day was started by the Alliance for Aging Research with a “goal…to increase recognition of the specific risks and symptoms of heart valve disease, improve detection and treatment, and ultimately save lives.” 

Did You Know?

According to the Alliance for Aging Research:

  • >As many as 11.6 million Americans are estimated to have heart valve disease (HVD),
  • >Annually, around 25,000 people die from the disease, and
  • Three out of four Americans know little to nothing about heart valve disease.

    Causes of Heart Valvular Disease

  • Rheumatic disease: An untreated infection from bacteria causing strep throat can cause scarring of the heart valve and it is the most common cause of valve disease worldwide. This is less common in the U.S. where strep infections are treated early with antibiotics.
  • Endocarditis: When a severe infection in the blood causes an infection of the inner lining of the heart, the infection can settle on the heart valves and damage the leaflets. IV drug use can also lead to endocarditis and ultimately heart valve disease.
  • Other types of heart disease i.e., heart failure, atherosclerosis, thoracic aortic aneurysm, high blood pressure or heart attack.

     

    Risk Factors

  • Older age can be a risk factor.
  • A family history of coronary artery disease can raise your risk of developing HVD.
  • Lifestyle habits that may put you at risk include a lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, smoking, and obesity.
  • Other conditions that can raise your risk include high blood pressure, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders such as lupus.
  • Radiation treatment for cancer can result in thickening or narrowing of heart valves.
  • Sex, at all ages men are more likely than women to have certain heart valve conditions, such as aortic stenosis.

     

    Symptoms in Adults

    It is important to recognize that symptoms that occur in older patients may happen slowly, may be mistakenly thought to be normal signs of aging, or a patient may have no symptoms at all. When a patient does have symptoms, it can include:

     

  • Fatigue, which is often the first symptom.
  • Shortness of breath, especially on exertion
  • Chest pain
  • Dizziness, fainting when standing up, or a short-term loss of consciousness.
  • Fever, which may signal an infection that can lead to endocarditis.
  • Rapid weight gain, and
  • Irregular heartbeat.

     

    How Heart Valve Disease is Diagnosed

  • Your doctor may hear a heart murmur during a physical examination and depending on the location, how it sounds and its rhythm, your doctor may be able to identify the valve and type of problem it is (regurgitation or stenosis).
  • The above symptoms are like other conditions and your doctor can order an echocardiogram to diagnose a heart valve problem.
  • How Heart Valve Disease is Treated

    Medicine may treat symptoms and/or prevent the condition from worsening. Surgery or a minimally invasive structural heart procedure may ultimately be required to repair or fully replace a faulty heart valve.

     

    Why it Matters?

    Untreated HVD can lead to serious and even life-threatening complications for example:

  • Arrhythmias,
  • Blood clots,
  • Blood stream infections,
  • Expanding, bulging, or tearing of the aorta,
  • Heart failure,
  • Pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs),
  • Stroke, or
  • Cardiac Arrest.

 

What Can You Do?

Talk to your doctor about your risk during your routine examination and make healthy lifestyle changes (i.e., choose heart-healthy foods, maintain a healthy weight, manage stress, get regular physical activity, and if you smoke, quit).

 

References

 

Article Author: Beth Cobb, RN, BSN, ACM, CCDS
Beth Cobb, RN, BSN, ACM, CCDS, is the Manager of Clinical Analytics at Medical Management Plus, Inc. Beth has over twenty-five years of experience in healthcare including eleven years in Case Management at a large multi-facility health system. In her current position, Beth is a principle writer for MMP’s Wednesday@One weekly e-newsletter, an active member of our HIPAA Compliance Committee, MMP’s Education Department Program Director and co-developer of MMP’s proprietary Compliance Protection Assessment Tool.

This material was compiled to share information.  MMP, Inc. is not offering legal advice. Every reasonable effort has been taken to ensure the information is accurate and useful.