What causes heart murmur's?

Answer 1

A leaky heart valve.

Answer 2

A heart murmur is simply audible turbulent blood flow through the heart. If you listen to your heart with a stethoscope then you should hear 2 sounds (lup-dup). That is the sound of the 2 sets of valves closing. Any extra sound is called a murmur and could be caused by a range of things.

It could just be high levels of blood flow, it could be a problem with a valve or it could be a problem with the heart's structure (a septal defect for example).

Some murmurs are "innocent" (no problems at all) and some may indicate underlying heart pathology.

Answer 3

Heart murmurs are most often caused by defective heart valves. A stenotic (sten-OT'ik) heart valve has a smaller-than-normal opening and can't open completely. A valve may also be unable to close completely. This leads to regurgitation, which is blood leaking backward through the valve when it should be closed.

Murmurs also can be caused by conditions such as pregnancy, fever, thyrotoxicosis (thi"ro-toks"ih-KO'sis) (a diseased condition resulting from an overactive thyroid gland) or anemia.

A diastolic (di"as-TOL'ik) murmur occurs when the heart muscle relaxes between beats. A systolic (sis-TOL'ik) murmur occurs when the heart muscle contracts. Systolic murmurs are graded by intensity (loudness) from one to six. A grade 1/6 is very faint, heard only with a special effort. A grade 6/6 is extremely loud. It's heard with a stethoscope slightly removed from the chest.

Answer 4

Innocent murmurs are heard when blood moves noisily through a normal heart. Sometimes these murmurs occur when:

Blood is flowing faster than usual through the heart and blood vessels attached to the heart.
An increased amount of blood is flowing through the heart.
Illnesses or conditions that can cause blood to flow faster than usual through the heart include:

Fever
Anemia
Too much thyroid hormone in the body (hyperthyroidism)
Many, if not most, children will have a heart murmur heard by their doctor at some time in their lives. After childhood, the most common cause of an increased amount of blood flowing through the heart is pregnancy. Most murmurs found in pregnant women are innocent. They are due to the extra blood that women's bodies make while they are pregnant.

Innocent murmurs are sometimes due to changes to the heart resulting from heart surgery or from aging.

Abnormal Heart Murmurs

The most common cause of abnormal murmurs is congenital heart defects. Congenital heart defects occur when the heart, heart valves, or blood vessels attached to the heart do not develop normally before a baby is born. Some babies are born with a combination of heart defects. Common defects that cause murmurs include:

Congenital septal defects, which are holes in the wall (septum) that separates the right and left sides of the heart. They account for more than half of abnormal murmurs in children.
Congenital valve defects, which include narrow valves that do not allow enough blood to flow through them and leaking valves that do not close properly.
Infections and other conditions that damage heart valves or other structures of the heart also may cause murmurs. These include:

Rheumatic fever, a serious illness that can develop after a person has an untreated or incompletely treated infection caused by the bacteria that cause strep throat or scarlet fever. Rheumatic fever can lead to permanent damage to the heart. If your doctor diagnoses strep throat, be sure your child takes all of the antibiotics prescribed, even if he or she feels better before the antibiotics run out.
Endocarditis, an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart and valves that is usually caused by a bacterial infection. Endocarditis is a serious disease that can lead to permanent heart damage and other complications. Endocarditis usually occurs in an abnormal heart.
Calcification (hardening and thickening) of valves as a result of aging. The hardened and thickened heart valves do not work as they should.

Answer 5

Ever been to a zoo that had a bird exhibit and there were two doors between the outside and the exhibit? Well, consider what happens if the doors are not opening and closing very well, and some of the birds try to sneak out. OK, this is a lousy analogy! but the valves are like doors trying to direct the blood flow from one chamber of the heart to the next, and sometimes they don't close all the way. It is pretty cool to watch if you have an echo-cardiogram.

Answer 6

I get heart murmurs during stressful times. My doctor explained that your body uses up different vitamins and minerals during stressful times than during normal times. Buy a vitamin supplement aimed at stressful lifestyles and you should see it subside.

Answer 7

Stress

Answer 8

my daughter has one she was born with it. the doctor told me that if she doesn't out grown it that they might have to close it for her.
I think that has to run if your family, cause i had some members in my family that have it.