Heart Conditions In Children

How Common Are Heart Conditions In Children? 

Parents are constantly worried about their children’s health. It’s unbelievable how many conditions and issues children can get from head to toe. Along with the variety, most kids don’t complain about being sick or not feeling well. So I think it is necessary for parents to get familiar with some common health problems for children, so they can be more confident dealing with them.

Common heart conditions

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in children, and it can strike before symptoms are visible. A heart murmur, sometimes just a barely perceptible whooshing sound, is one common warning sign that a child has a heart condition.

Treating heart problems in children is challenging because their bodies are still growing and developing. The first step to understanding how vulnerable your child's heart may be is to learn about common heart conditions in children:

Heart defects. Congenital defects are present at birth and can range from minor to severe. Some may not affect a child's health or lifespan, while others can cause lifelong complications.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH). This is a rare condition that affects the arteries and blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the lungs and back again. It causes high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery and increases risk for blood clots throughout the body.

Cardiomyopathy. This condition weakens the heart muscle, making it difficult for it to pump blood effectively. Symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting and fatigue.

Arrhythmias. An arrhythmia occurs when the electrical signals that control your heartbeat become abnormal or irregular. Arrhythmia can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.

Understanding heart disease in children

First, it's important to understand that congenital heart defects are not life threatening for most babies. And if you ever feel your child isn't thriving, talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. If needed, he or she can refer you to a specialist who can determine if something more serious may be going on.

Here are some key things to know about congenital heart conditions:

They're more common than you think. About one in 100 babies born have a serious congenital heart defect, and even more have minor ones that won't require treatment. They can be genetic or caused by environmental factors while the baby was growing in the womb, or they can happen at any time later in life.

Babies with heart conditions need attention early on. Even though these conditions aren't usually life threatening at birth, chest pain and other symptoms can signal trouble later on. The earlier an infant has surgery to treat a heart defect, the better the chances of long-term survival and good health.

Conclusion

Fortunately, today doctors are better able to detect and treat heart issues in children. As a result, their quality of life has improved dramatically. However, there is still much that doctors don’t know about heart conditions in children and they continue to search for new ways to treat them. We have seen some promising new developments and it seems likely that treatments will improve over time.