Important Facts About Heart Disease In Children You Probably Did Not Know

A healthy heart is key to a long and happy life. Unfortunately, some people are born with or develop heart problems that negatively impact their growth and lifestyles. If you are worried that your child might have a heart problem, you have to educate yourself. You have to seek the right information to help your child get treated so they can live a normal life.

Numbers

Heart problems can affect anyone at any age. In the United State, for instance, 1 out of 120 babies born has heart disease. Called congenital heart disease, this condition develops while the baby’s heart is forming and growing during the early part of the pregnancy. As the most prevalent type of birth defect, it strikes 40,000 newborns in the United States every year and is 60 times more common than cancer in children.

Symptoms

Many children who have heart problems do not feel ill or show visible symptoms. Most of the time they look just like any other kid and do usual kid things. However, if signs and symptoms do show, the following are examples of what might occur:

• Heart palpitations – This is when the heart beats irregularly, too fast, or too hard.
• Chest pains – This can occur if there is a problem with blood flow.
• Fatigue – This is due to a shortage of oxygen in the brain and other body parts.
• Swelling – This usually affects the legs and feet and happens when not enough blood is pumped into the lower body.
• Blue skin – The skin becomes blue if not enough oxygen is present in the bloodstream.

Types

There are many types of heart problems that affect children. Below are examples of the most common ones:

• Congenital heart disease – This refers to a heart condition that develops before a person is even born. It includes heart valve disorders, tetralogy of Fallot, ventricular and atrial septal defects, and hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
• Atherosclerosis – This condition is characterized by fat and cholesterol buildup in the arteries, making them narrow and stiff and increasing risk of heart attacks and blood clots.
• Rheumatic heart disease – This happens when the heart valves become permanently damaged due to rheumatic fever.
• Arrhythmia – This occurs when the heart beats abnormally, whether too fast, slow, or irregularly.

Diagnosis and treatment

To diagnose heart disease in children, chest x-rays, electrocardiogram, and ultrasound scans may be performed. And depending on their condition, their doctor will recommend medicines or surgery as a form of treatment.

Children’s Heart Foundations

Every year, many children around the world are diagnosed with heart conditions. To help them and their families get through this difficult ordeal, there are groups and organizations that work hard to learn more about these heart conditions and provide support to these individuals. These foundations aim for the advancement of the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart problems by collecting funds for research. In many developing countries around the world, these organizations also provide medical and financial assistance to children battling heart disease. If you want to give zakat online or give sadqah online, you can donate to a children’s heart disease charity. When you give zakat online or give sadqah online to one of these organizations, you can save many children’s lives.