What exactly is a heart murmur and is it dangerous?

Question

What exactly is a heart murmur and is it dangerous?

Answer 1

A heart murmur is caused by turbulence in the blood as it moves through the heart, creating an extra sound as the heart beats.  (The "normal" heartbeat has two sounds, caused by each of two pairs of valves closing as the heart goes through its routine of beating.)  As far as whether they indicate something that can be dangerous, it depends on the murmur.

Some murmurs are completely harmless and are normal in some people--it is quite common for young people to have functional heart murmurs and they mean nothing at all.  Others are always pathological.  You have to know what the patient's condition is, what the murmur is and when during the heartbeat it occurs, whether it is new or longstanding, all kinds of things.  Then you can start to think about whether it heralds something that could be dangerous.

Answer 2

Heart murmur are most often caused by defective heart valves,they also can be caused by pregnancy,fever,thyrotoxicosis(a dieased condition from an overactive thyroid) or anemia. Heart mumrmurs are common 20 to 30 percent of normal adults,most murmurs are benign and are not associated with any structural abnormalities of the heart.You may want to request a ultrasound or a Echocardiogram of your heat to rule out any problems with your heart valves.

Answer 3

a heart murmur is a hole in your heart. it can be dangerous if you do not take care of yourself. exercising is something that can help. and not smoking. my mom has one and i know that if she didn't smoke it wouldn't be as bad just stay healthy and in shape

Answer 4

Dear New Moon Daughter-

As someone who grew up in The Bronx, I wish to share some knowledge.  Heart murmurs come in several varieties.  A murmur is a "different" sound that a doctor hears through his stethoscope when he/she examines your heart and major arteries. It may be present at birth or develop anytime in life.  It can relate to the flow of blood in the heart or a major artery, to a hole somewhere in the heart muscle, or an abnormal connection in the vascular system, as well as some damage to a heart valve.  In young people, many murmurs are normal and mild, related to the dynamics of blood flow.  Evaluation and diagnosis is best made by a cardiologist physician.

Answer 5

Marie gave you good advice but I advise you to go to Web MD and look it up and read as much as possible.  I have Mitral Valve Disease and it's not fun.  My brother died from complications from a heart murmur so you need to know a much as possible to avoid whoever it is from over exerting them self in sports that they shouldn't be doing or stressful situations.  Check out Web MD, talk to your family Dr.  It isn't something to be taken lightly.  Some people do fine, it depends on the seriousness of the condition.  The Dr that diagnosed the condition should have also told you the severity of the condition and what the patient can and cannot do and how you can do research on it.  I hope all is well.  Many people live with heart murmurs everyday.  They just learn how to take care of themselves properly.

Peace & Love  :)

Answer 6

The murmur is a sound. That's why it's called a murmur. Generally, they're caused by some turbulent blood flow that isn't usually present. Some murmurs, on the basis of the way they sound, can reliably be dismissed as completely unimportant. Others can signal significant disease of one of the valves. And in between are some that are uncertain and may need investigations (like echocardiography) to tell if they're worth worrying about. But the murmur itself is just a noise.