Exactly one week after my sixteenth birthday, a specialist in Roanoke diagnosed me with tachycardia. Tachycardia is just a fancy way to say that my heart beats too fast for my body. I wasn’t particularly scared but then it occurred to me, how do I live a normal teenage life with a heart condition? I constantly asked questions and still do today, but at least now I know that I can still have fun and I might get lucky and outgrow it within a few years. I may not be able to run around and play sports as much anymore, but I choose to look on the bright side; it could be worse, right? There are children that have this disease and their hearts are even faster than mine, which causes extensive medical issues, and without treatment can cause death.
Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle, causing the heart muscle to become enlarged, thick or rigid. In rare cases, the muscle tissue in the heart is replaced with scar tissue.
Irregular heartbeat, heartbeat abnormalities, and arrhythmia all describe the disease known as atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a common heart condition that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood at a regular pace. This includes heartbeats that are too rapid or irregularly. (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2014). Atrial fibrillation, also known as AF or Afib is the most prevalent heart arrhythmia with 2.7 million affected in the United States alone (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2014; American Heart Association 2012b). Sufferers of atrial fibrillation have the ability to control this disease with life alterations and the variety of treatments available with today’s technological advances.
October 9th, 2016, after being discharged just three days prior, a 44-year-old African American female presented in the emergency department with complaints of shortness of breath with minimal activity and chest pain that radiates to the back and shoulders. Vitals signs were taken and reveled a heart rate of 134, blood pressure of 219/147 and a respiratory rate 28. Observation of the patient showed that she was slightly diaphoretic and anxious. Lab work was ordered to be drawn as well as an ECG and the admission process began. Admitting diagnosis recorded was tachycardia, elevated troponin, acute exacerbation of congestive heart failure, acute chronic congestive heart failure, chest pain and pleuritic chest pain.
Slide 4: I found this slide to be very important because I think it is so important to screen infants and children. I was born with abnormal mitral valve in my heart, and the doctors did not find out about it until I was 16 years old. My heart had grown abnormally
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men in the United States. It is very important to learn about the heart to prevent heart disease. Many forms of heart disease can be prevented and treat with healthy lifestyle choices. For someone who has heart disease or does not; there is information, facts, symptoms, different types, diagnoses, tests, treatment, care, and living and managing that can be given.
...ital if you have symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, chest pain, or heartburn it is essential that you get to a hospital immediately, just to make sure that you can get the treatment that you need so you and your family do not have to experience a myocardial infraction. Even though coronary artery disease usually affects persons over age 60, the disease can still be seen in people who are much younger for various reasons. The diagnosis of coronary artery disease remains the number one cause of hospitalization and death in the adult population in the United States today, but with the proper treatments, knowing the risk factors of coronary artery disease and medical technology such as stents, coronary endocartomy, and coronary bypass grafting that we have available to us today the prognosis can be positive for many patients and will save more lives than not knowing.
(Slide 2) What is Cardiomyopathy? If we break down the word we can see “Cardio” which means of the heart, “myo” which means muscle, and “pathy” which means disease, therefore cardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart muscle. (Slide 3) There are 3 main types of cardiomyopathies; hypertrophic, dilated, and restrictive. I will only be discussing dilated cardiomyopathy, which is characterized by the enlargement of the hearts chambers with impaired systolic function. It is estimated that as many as 1 of 500 adults may have this condition. Dilated cardiomyopathy is more common in blacks than in whites and in males than in females. It is the most common form of cardiomyopathy in children and it can occur at any age (CDC).
When you have Tachycardis your heart rate is above 100 beats per minute. Tachycardis is caused by heart injuries from past times. Tachycardis usually occurs months or years after a heart attack. A treatment for Tachycardis can be inserting a device called a defibrillator. A defibrillator will detect and treat abnormally fast heart rhythms.
CAD can also cause, what is called Arrhythmia, or a fast heartbeat. Arrhythmia can range from slow, fast or an irregular heartbeat, there are also indications of anxiety, shortness of breath, and weakness. In severe cases arrhythmia can change, slow or even stop the heart’s power to pump blood. Coronary Artery disease also effects the kidneys, organs that are bean shaped, about the size of a fist. The kidneys are located just under the ribs and there is one on each side of the spine. In twenty-four hours the kidneys can screen about 120 to 150 quarts of blood to create roughly one two quarts of urine. The urine flows through two slim tubes of muscle called ureters that are located from the kidneys to the bladder. There is one ureter on each
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, otherwise known as POTS, is an autonomic nervous system disorder that can be debilitating in severe circumstances. POTS is defined as the presence of chronic symptoms of orthostatic intolerance for at least 6 months along with a fall in blood pressure (>20/10) and increased heart rate (>30) within 10 minutes of standing from laying down.1 Symptoms of POTS include but are not limited to lightheadedness, fainting, heart palpitations, chest pain, nausea, fatigue, headache, blurry vision, breathing difficulty, irritable bowel symptoms, and loose joints.2 POTS commonly occurs in young women of child-bearing age.3 This syndrome affects up to 3 million patients in the United States; however, the prevalence
Now I realize that the heart-sick are not always curable by a new heart or a Dacron tube.
After her doctor’s visit that she reluctantly went to, she announced to the family that she was suffering from a damaged heart valve. We were all terrified about what would happen to her, but she assured us that the doctor said it could be fixed with a minimal risk.
The rate of heart disease seems to be on a constant incline in the America. As more of our population begins to indulge in the goodies our first world society has to offer, the rise of heart defects at an even younger age is emerging. According to the CDC about one third of the United States children are either overweight or obese. This interest in obesity as a social issue is what inspired me to pursue a career in pediatric cardiology. The way my personality type is wired seems to be indicative of a position in which I can grow as well as prosper. In addition, I believe that being able to identify a disease within a person at a young age and follow them in their treatment modalities throughout their life is one of the greatest honors any
will need an MRI during their life time.”(3) However, there are many risks for MRI scans
There were a lot of patients that came into the emergency room on Friday November 20, 2015 that had heart problems. The first patient I observed was only thirty and she had been having tachycardia since two o’clock Thursday afternoon. She stated that she has had this problem before but it never lasted this long. She was said to have SVT prior to arriving to the emergency room by the ambulance crew. Upon arriving in the ER her heartrate got up to 220 beats per minutes. The next patient that I saw was brought in because his wife said that he was shaking more than usual, he had Parkinson’s. There was a young lady that came in who had hit her head almost three weeks ago and was diagnosed with a concussion at that time. She was now having neck and head pain and numbness in the back of her head. There was another assumed SVT patient. Her heartrate was around 170. There was also a homeless man that was brought in complaining of pain all over and all he kept asking for was morphine