How The Heart Breaks

Author: Lance Teo
The heart is divided into four chambers, or rooms: the left atrium, the right atrium, the left ventricle, and the right ventricle. Each chamber is sealed by a valve, so that blood can go one way but not the other.
When you listen to a heartbeat, you can hear that the beat happens in two parts: lub-dub. The first part of the beat pushes the blood from the atria (the small chambers on the top of the heart) to the ventricles (the larger ones on the bottom), and the second part of the beat pushes the blood out of the heart.
Every single cell in our bodies requires oxygen to produce energy from food. It is the one essential ingredient; we cannot survive for any extended period of time without oxygen. This is why the heart is so important. Its primary job is to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout our entire body.
The two sides of the heart perform two different functions toward this end. The right side of the heart collects oxygen-poor blood and sends it to the lungs to be replenished with oxygen and to rid itself of carbon dioxide.
The left side takes the oxygen-rich blood coming from the lungs and recirculates it through the body to your muscles and organs. Oxygenated (oxygen-rich) blood is carried by the arteries away from the heart, and oxygen-depleted blood is carried by the veins back to the heart.
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. It can be caused by many different factors, including congenital heart defects, heart valve infections, and
heartbeat irregularities., which is the most common form of heart disease, affecting 7 million Americans today
What is coronary artery disease?
Like all the cells and muscles in the body, the heart muscle itself needs oxygen. And as with the rest of the body, that life-sustaining oxygen is carried to the individual cells of the heart by arteries. These are called the coronary arteries. There are three main coronary arteries: one on the left that splits into the left anterior descending, or LAD, and the circumflex, and one on the right, the right coronary artery, or RCA.
If the coronary arteries are blocked and unable to do their jobs, then the heart is left without oxygen and unable to do its job. Depriving the heart of oxygen for even a brief period of time will result in the death of some of the heart muscle--otherwise known as a heart attack.
The heart requires more oxygen when it's working hard, which is to say, when you're working hard. That's why many people with coronary artery disease classically experience chest pains when they're exerting themselves--jogging for instance, playing tennis, or even simply taking out the garbage. Your heart may be able to sustain itself at rest, but when you're exerting yourself, it needs more oxygen.
The limited amount of oxygenated blood that reaches the cells through the diseased and partially blocked arteries simply isn't enough. These classic chest pains, also known as angina, are the diseased heart's signal that the coronary arteries aren't allowing enough oxygenated blood to reach the heart muscle.
When the amount of blood to a muscle is insufficient, that low-oxygen state is called ischemia. Coronary artery disease is often also called ischemic heart disease (IHD) as a result. A heart attack occurs when the coronary arteries are sufficiently blocked as to rob the heart muscle (the myocardium) of oxygen for long enough that part of the tissue dies (a condition called infarction).
For this reason, a heart attack is called a myocardial infarction, or MI. Peripheral artery disease, or PAD, is when blockages occur in arteries other than the coronary arteries. These are no less serious: A stroke occurs when oxygen flow to the brain is blocked, and when oxygen flow to the limbs is blocked, the outcome can be gangrene.

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Genetic or Congenital Anomalies

Author: Hope Ocampo
Though some congenital anomalies can be put down to genetic problems or environmental problems there is still a strong link between many congenital anomalies and umbilical cords while the baby is still in the womb. The umbilical cord is vital to the survival and good health of your baby and is relatively delicate, meaning that in some cases a small amount of damage can lead to your baby being born with one of several congenital anomalies. However, these cases are quite rare so there is little reason to worry about them unduly.
The length of your umbilical cord can vary widely from less than 35% to more than 80%. And the length of the cord can have an effect on your baby this is usually through knots or similar problems and not simply because the cord is either too long or too short.
Achordia means that you have no umbilical cord and this can be a serious problem, and will at the very least need serious and regular monitoring by your physician. On average, the umbilical cord is 55cm long but determining the actual length of the cord before baby is born is virtually impossible. Exceptionally long cords can lead to knotting and possibly even eventual prolapsing through the cervix, whereas exceptionally short cords can lead to the cord rupturing. Umbilical cord entanglement and excessive fetal movement can lead to prenatal death in rare cases.
Umbilical cords should usually contain two arteries and one vein. A single artery cord will usually lead to congenital defects such as a cleft lip and there is a 20% mortality rate
associated with single artery cord babies. However, this can usually be detected with an ultrasound. A 2 vessel umbilical cord on your ultrasound more than likely indicates a single artery cord. Because further complications are common, such as heart defects and cystic hygroma single artery umbilical cord pregnancies should be tested for further possible congenital complications.
What are complications from cysts on umbilical cord?
There are basically two different types of umbilical cord cysts; these are true cysts and false cysts. Many cysts will clear over time but the longer that one is evident the more likely congenital defects become.
20% of both types of cysts are likely to culminate in a congenital defect of one sort or another, but most commonly these will be structural or chromosomal anomalies. Cysts occur in 3% of all pregnancies but may be diagnosed early in the pregnancy.
A prolapsed cord can lead to serious problems for potentially both mother and baby, and can be caused by an elongated cord, abnormal presentation, prematurity and other problems. The hospital or your preferred care giver will determine whether you are considered to be at risk and if you are then you will need to undergo vaginal and other examinations to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. If the membranes are in tact then the cord should repair itself naturally but if this isn't the case then you will need to undergo an immediate vaginal birth or a caesarian birth but the doctor will know how to access the fetus when the umbilical cord is broken.
The advance of ultrasound and medical science in general means that it is becoming more and more possible to detect these problems before the baby is born and in many cases something can be done to rectify the situation. At the very least further problems associated with these congenital defects and umbilical cords problems can, such as an avulsed umbilical cord, can be avoided. That said, not all problems can be determined prenatally and some problems may not present themselves until after the birth.

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Conditions That Contribute To The Development Of Congenital Heart Disease

Author: Joann Cheong
The term "congenital" means inborn or present at birth. So it's understandable that congenital heart disease is a health problem that is present since birth. You may often hear the terms congenital heart defect or congenital cardiovascular disease, but all means the same : a serious health problem that affects thousands of newborns worldwide.
Such disease is said to be present in about one percent of the total live births. It is manifested by a structural defect in the heart and happens when the heart does not develop normally prior to birth. The defects may occur in the heart walls, valves, veins and arteries near the organ. It becomes severe when it starts to disrupt or block the normal flow of the blood and oxygen to the heart, causing the heart to weaken and the heart muscles to die with lack of oxygen.
Doctors found no concrete evidence to show the real cause of congenital heart disease. However, there are certain conditions that may contribute to the development. These include:
  • Diabetic mother
  • History of the disease in the family
  • German measles
  • Toxoplasmosis, which is an infection that is transmitted through contact with cat feces
  • HIV infection in the mother
  • Use of alcohol during pregnancy
  • Intake of cocaine and other drugs during pregnancy
  • Use of certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs during pregnancy
It is worth noting that although one or more of these condition sare present prior to birth, it doesn't mean that the baby will be born with a congenital heart disease. In the same way, several studies have noted that babies can be born with certain heart defects even if none of the mentioned conditions are present. If this is really the case, then it could be rare for families to exactly identify if their babies will be born with or without such disease. This also means that families can't do anything to prevent their babies from developing such condition. But still, there's nothing wrong from avoiding such contributing factors of congenital heart defects. Mothers should still avoid drugs, alcohol and exposure to the German measles and some environmental toxins, not just for the unborn she is carrying, but also for herself.
Today, the disease is identified in a number of types, and much to your surprise, more than one heart defect may be present at the same time. Among the most common and most treated types of defects are atrial septal defect (ASD), pulmonary stenosis, Ebstein's anomaly, aortic stenosis, ventricular septal defect (VSD), tetralogy of fallot, transposition of the great arteries, and a lot more. Note that each of these types are treated individually, depending on the type and severity of the case.

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