This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart as I myself and two of my children have been diagnosed to date.
Your heart has four chambers in it. The upper most chambers are know as atria and the lower chambers are known as the ventricles. When your heart beats, the atria pushes blood into the ventricles and the ventricle the push the blood out of the heart.
There are valves that control the flow of blood between the atrium and the ventricles. The Mitral valve is located between the left ventricle and the left atrium. It is made up of two small doors that come from each side of the valve and meet in the middle. The job of this
valve is to keep blood from moving back into the atrium. The valve opens to let the blood flow into the ventricle. It then closes to keep blood in the ventricle until it is pushed into your circulatory system.
Mitral valve prolapse will occur when both of the doors of the valve bulge backward into the atrium as the ventricle is pushing blood out of the heart. THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.
This movement may cause a clicking type noise that you doctor will hear when he/she is listening to your heart. Mine is so pronounced that whenever I end up in an emergency room of a teaching hospital-I feel like a guinea pig. Also, some of the blood from the ventricle may be pushed back into the atrium which will cause a swishing sound that is called a murmer.
Symptoms:
Many to most people with mitral valve prolapse will not even show any symptoms. If your valve begins to get really bad, you may feel tired, dizzy, or faint. It is possible that you will get headaches, have trouble breathing, or have an irregular heartbeat. If you are
experiencing any of these symptoms, it is important that you contact your doctor right away.*
Care:
If you are not having any of these symptoms, you will not have to make any changes in the way that you live. If you have a murmur you may need to take antibiotics before any dental checkups that you may have. It may be necessary to avoid sports in which you can be hurt.
(This was the case for my older son who had to give up high school wrestling after lettering for two years.) There should also be a yearly visit to your doctor to have this specific problem addressed.
If you are having symptoms, you may not be able to be as active or excercise as much as you had before. You may also need to take some medications to control the symptoms and there may be a need for tests to see just how bad you prolapse is. One of the tests that you may find
yourself having is the echocardiogram. I have one of these done at least every month and sometimes more often. This test will allow the valves to be seen while your heart is beating.
For more information about your heart:
Call the American Heart Association at 1-800-AHA-USA1.