In years past, your grandfather may have written off his shortness of breath to old age. Even people diagnosed early in life with heart conditions often didn’t link their decreased energy or their dizziness decades later to their heart conditions. Today, primary care physicians and cardiologists are tuned into subtle changes that may signal heart valve disease—a condition that can affect people in their 40s or 80s.
In fact, one in ten people age 75 and older struggle with moderate to severe heart valve disease, which happens when one or more of your heart valves don’t work well. To understand why this happens, it helps to know the role healthy heart valves play in the body. The heart has four valves with tissue flaps – also called leaflets – that open and close with each heartbeat. The flaps ensure blood flows in the right direction through your heart’s four chambers and to the rest of your body.
Think of the leaflets as doors. Normally, the doors are very pliable. They open and close to allow blood to flow through the heart and then to the rest of the body. When the doors calcify, their pliability decreases and the heart has to work harder and harder to pump blood to the body.
5 Symptoms Not to Ignore
Many people with heart valve disease don’t experience noticeable symptoms until the blood flow is significantly restricted. Symptoms that could signal heart valve disease – and should be discussed with your physician – are:
- Breathlessness
- Chest pain, pressure or tightness
- Fainting
- Palpitations or a feeling of heavy, pounding, or noticeable heartbeats
- A decline in your activity level or reduced ability to do normal daily activities
Here’s a look at conditions that can cause or contribute to heart valve disease:
- Past medical history—A history of diabetes or rheumatic fever and cancer survivors treated with radiation therapy to the chest or sternum are at greater risk for heart valve disease.
- Congenital heart defect—People born with two leaflets, called bicuspid valve, are sometimes diagnosed with heart valve disease in their 40s or 50s.
- Heart murmur—Calcium buildup or a leaky aortic valve can cause a heart murmur, eventually leading to heart valve disease.
Minimally Invasive Treatment
Currently, no medicines can cure heart valve disease. However, medications to lower high blood pressure or high cholesterol may be prescribed. Lifestyle changes – giving up smoking, eating a heart-healthy diet, getting regular physical exercise and aiming for your optimal weight – can slow the progress of heart valve disease.
People with heart valves that are not functioning may also undergo Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive heart valve replacement procedure. TAVR procedures takes place in YRMC’s Hybrid Operating Room (OR)—a combined state-of-the-art surgical suite and medical imaging facility.
In YRMC’s Hybrid OR – considered one of the nation’s best – a patient’s heart blockage can be diagnosed and then immediately repaired with a minimally invasive procedure, like TAVR. If the real-time imaging shows the patient requires surgery, YRMC’s heart team is ready to perform the procedure in the Hybrid OR.
Learn more about heart valve disease and the advanced, comprehensive services available at YRMC’s James Family Heart Center.
Related: Valvular Heart Disease: A Quiet and Dangerous Disorder