![]() The murmur’s loudness can be helpful - or misleading. “We can gauge whether a murmur needs immediate attention or further exploration by listening to certain features of the sound,” he explains. While many murmurs are benign, others can point to problems. “Different heart murmurs make different sounds,” says Martin. Murmurs can occur when a valve doesn’t close properly, allowing blood to leak backwards, a condition called “ regurgitation.” A murmur may also arise when blood flows through a valve that’s narrowed or stiffened by disease, a condition known as stenosis. Heart valve problems usually cause heart murmurs, notes the American Heart Association. The " friction rub" sound, for example, can help diagnose pericarditis, which is an inflammation of the pericardium, the heart’s sac-like covering.Ī "gallop,” which actually mimics the sound a horse makes when running, could indicate a type of heart failure in those over 40, says Dr. Other heart sounds can help diagnose less common conditions. Heart murmurs, for example, are common heart sounds that sometimes indicate heart-valve disease, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “Listening to heart sounds through a stethoscope, along with a patient’s medical history and other clinical data, can help us diagnose a variety of heart conditions,” says Seth Martin, MD, assistant professor of cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. ![]() Tension in the tissues that connect the heart valves to heart muscle.Blood that flows too fast or abnormally through the chambers.Vibrations when the valves open and close.The sounds - normal and abnormal - that your heart makes come from: These are called the aortic, pulmonary, tricuspid, and mitral valves. Between each chamber, four little valves open and close with every heartbeat to keep the blood flowing in the right direction, notes the Texas Heart Institute. This four-chambered muscle contains two upper chambers, called the atria, and two lower chambers, called the ventricles. Where Your Heartbeat Comes FromĪ quick review of the heart’s anatomy reveals where its various sounds come from. One way she furthers her healing process is through writing and sharing her experience on her online blog. Now she’s dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - the emotional fallout from having a near-death experience coupled with such traumatic surgery, she says. (You can hear audio of her heartbeat on RadioLab where Summer shared her story.) But after surgery, her heartbeat became louder, even audible, and the pounding was so strong that it became a constant reminder of her surgery. These life-threatening weak spots on an artery’s wall can rupture, causing internal bleeding that can be fatal.Īsh’s open-heart surgery two years ago to repair her aortic valve was successful. In Ash’s case, the pressure caused the artery wall to stretch and balloon, creating an aortic aneurysm. The malfunctioning valve exerts extra pressure on the heart’s aorta. This is a defect that just 1 percent of people are born with, according to the U.S. To her shock, Ash found out she had an extremely rare congenital condition called a bicuspid aortic valve. She asked her mother’s cardiologist to review her echocardiogram report, and the cardiologist ordered a new echocardiogram. Years passed, and Ash ignored her urge to follow up - until her mother was hospitalized for a reaction to a cold medication that affected her heart rate. The test results indicated that her murmur was nothing to worry about. During a routine physical exam when she was in college, her physician heard a heart murmur and referred Ash for an echocardiogram. Just ask Summer Ash, now 38, an astrophysicist who is the director of outreach for Columbia University’s Department of Astronomy in New York City. When those notes stray off beat or tone, a trained ear can tell that something’s amiss with your health.Ī heart murmur may be diagnosed as benign - harmless - or it may need more attention. ![]() Call it the sound of your life force - that “lup dub lup dub” beat your healthy heart makes, resounding like rhythmic, repetitive pounding on a drum.
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