trying to figure out how a valsalva maneurver will alter heart function ie increase or decrease and the mech.involved
203472
The Valsalva Manoeuvre will slow your heart rate down, or it should. It's a manoeuvre that is like having a bowel movement. Someone will ask you to "bear down, like you're having a bowel movement", then put electrodes on you to monitor your heart rate. They will ask you to "bear down" and then relax, "bear down" and relax a few times to get a good understanding on your ECG. You can try it yourself - "bear down" like I said, continually monitoring your pulse or HB with your fingers over top of your carotid artery, or your wrist. Anywhere you know there is a pulse to be felt. Your heart rate should slow down and then resume it's normal pattern after you stop the "bearing down". Hope I helped...GOOD LUCK!
151620
You want to a do a stress echocardiogram which is a specialized version of a stress test - it can be done either chemically or on a treadmill.  The echocardiogram would give you information about the contractility of the heart muscle, both at rest and with stress; and the valvular function as well as pulmonary pressures which all could be implicated in the symptoms described.  You did not mention the age of the patient in your case, so I wouldn't further hazard a guess on the etiology of the symptoms.
462253
hmmm..\nyou can see how albuterol sulfate (asthma medicine) changes someone's breathing or heart rate lol
8794
I've heard this before and have tried it.  It seems to work.  \nI used to work at a florist and we used a 1/2 aspirin everytime we changed the water in a floral arrangement (every 3 days or so.)
653694
I am very sorry to hear about your loss.  You have my sympathies.\n\nTo guess at what happened in this context would be simply guessing.  I agree that it was a good idea to insert an internal defibrillator to address your husband's very dangerous condition.  Indeed your husband had "cheated" death on two prior occasions.  \n\nThe fact that your husband died so rapidly does suggest that there was some catastrophic event...some of these types of events do not even have anything to do with the heart - like an aneurysm or a dissection of the aorta.  There is a possibility that he died of something non-cardiac.  Was there an autopsy done?\n\nWhen the device goes off, I have never heard of one prompting a heart attack or an arrhythmia even if it went off erroneously, which by the way, I have never heard of that either.\n\nThere is a possibility that one of the leads that connect to the heart became displaced and although the device sent a shock, if it was not connected then no shock got the the heart muscle where it was needed.  The device can be 'interrogated' to determine if there was any cardiac event and if the device malfunctioned.  I think that your cardiologist and the manufacturer would WANT to know whether the device was implicated, so the problem does not happen again.\n\nGood luck and god bless.\n\nDue respect to pacer whiz, but your question implies that a pacemaker was just implanted.  If that were the case, most certainly a known defective unit would not have been used - short of some total meltdown in safety procedures.  Therefore checking the serial number is not going to be useful.
572434
I' m not sure why at this point someone has not addressed surgery. Is she being followed by a cardiologist? Unless something else is the cause of what sounds to be heart failure, it seems like her regurg. is finally become symptomatic. Has no one approached her about surgery? Has she been told for some reason that she is inoperable? You definetely don't want to jump into surgery if you dont need to. I feel like I need more info to adequately answer your question though. What I would do is direct these questions towards her doctor, preferably a cardiologist. Has she had a heart cath yet?  If not, maybe see if its time. Email me if you find out more or if you have anymore questions. Im a RN in the cardiovascular ICU, I specialize in heart surgery. Good luck to you guys!
141988
There are way too many variables for anyone to be able to give you a good answer from the information you gave. I'm an RT & take care of patients on ventilators in the ICU. If you have specific questions, and can share more info, you can email me & I'll try to answer them for you.
321032
I will take a good guess and say your a power lifter, or some type of weight lifter.\n\nWhen you strain at lifting weights, your veins will expand, so that more oxygen can go through them, to your muscle tissues, so you dont have oxygen deprivation.  \n\nAlso you put a strain on your circulatory system when you power lift, as it makes your heart rate go up, and if  you are straining a muscle, and the blood cant go "into" the muscle, it has to back up into the vein, thus expanding it to large proportions...(especially those nearest the skin).\n\nJesse
359502
This is a ridiculous question that makes me think you have not even tried.  The problem is not being able to find anything rather how to fit so much information on one page.  Check out this link from the Mayo Clinic.  It is very good at even defining what you mean by "heart disease."  Good luck.\n\nhttp://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cardiovascular-disease/HB00032
627830
I have never heard of any treatments for MVP.  I used to take medication to stop the racing and minimize the fluttering but as far as I had been told there was no other treatment other than possible surgery if it were bad enough (mine wasn't).  Only other advice I was given was to avoid caffeine and not to worry about the MVP b/c it would not really affect much of anything.
117861
In general, the mechanical valves will last much longer, but require chronic anticoagulation (blood thinning with a medication called Coumadin to prevent clots from forming on the valve). They are offered to the younger people, who want to avoid another surgery 10-20 years down the line.  The cow or rahter pig valves last about that much time.  They will wear down sooner, but they have the benefit of not requiring life long anticoagulation, which may have bleeding complications (though is generally safe..hundreds of thousands of people are on anticoagulation and they are doing fine). So in general, the younger patients get mechanical valves and the older patients get pig valves.  It is all about choice...possibility of another surgery down the line vs. lifelong coagulation.  Both valves work equally well otherwise. I would encourage you to talk to your cardiovascular surgeon about this in depth.  Good luck!
208402
Also known as SVTs, it describes a very rapid heart rate. It would be helpful to know the underlying rhythm (ie: atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia, etc...) If you find out, post this question again. It would be helpful to know a few other things about you, so I'll have to give a broad answer. The heart is unique tissue that beats when it receives electrical impulses (you may have seen actors who pose as "dead patients" on t.v. get "shocked" in the ER with electricity to help their hearts beat again). With SVTs, a part of your heart gets "excited" and starts to shoot off it's own electrical impulses, which can cause the heart to beat out of rhythm, and very fast. You should see a cardiologist and have a few tests such as a 12-Lead EKG, 2d echo, holter monitor, blood & thyroid tests, and possibly a stress test. Many young females get SVTs, which is usually harmless and do not cause any longterm problems. These cases can be treated with simple lifestyle modifications that can minimize attacks (such as sleeping better, reducing stress and eliminating caffeine products). Patients can do Valsalva manuevers to stop SVTs. As far as alternative, homeopathic, etc... there are no products that have shown evidence in successfully treating SVTs. If you ever find that your SVTs won't stop, you may get dizzy, get chest pain and your cardiac output will fall and you can pass out. Have someone dip your face/head in a bucket of ice-cold water (the mammalian diving reflex) and call 911. Medications, ablation, cardioversion, etc... are reserved for advanced cases. These patients may be older or have other cardiac issues going on. Or they can get SVTs before or after a heart attack due to changes that occurs in a part of the heart called the "Atrium". I hope I was able to answer some of your questions...
376242
Hey Christopher!\n\nI think the most common adverse event reported with the external catheters is UTI's... Best way to avoid infections and UTI's is to keep the area and the unit CLEAN!  :)\nOnce you switch, get the manufacturer name, and model of your cath, and the website should provide you with infomation that was reported by people that used the cath while it was still in testing.\nAlso, are you a member of a group or website for paraplegics?  You should join a chat room, where you can talk to others.  You might find a broader audience of paraplegics in that type of forum, who can provide you with their actual experience.\n\nBest of luck to you  :)
548541
Hi. My husband and I are debating a similar question for his dad. He had open heart 9 years ago, and has also had multiple procedures on carotid arteries. He's in horrible shape now and we fear that he won't survive another open heart surgery... but we want him to have a better way of life than what he has now, if it's possible. To answer yours- if the person is in pretty good physical strength and condition, I think it's totally worth it. BUT, like the other 2 people said, talk to the Dr's. Write down your questions and concerns.  That's why I'm on here-trying to get as much information as possible for the Dr's appt. Good luck!
59127
I have taken numerous cardiac classes and would like to help you, but I need more information. What do you mean "working off 60% of its power"? Did your specialist measure your MABP? If you'd like to give me more info so I can help you out you can e-mail me @ mary.edwards4543@my.sinclair.edu
622484
Treadmill stress electrocardiography is employed widely to detect underlying cardiovascular disease in asymptomatic persons. To determine the frequency and significance of an abnormal S-T segment response to exercise in young athletes with increased left ventricular (LV) mass induced by physical conditioning, 75 male isometrically trained athletes without evidence of heart disease (mean age 21 years) and 48 nonathletic young normal subjects were studied by M-mode echocardiography and exercise electrocardiography. Ventricular septal and posterior free wall thicknesses and calculated LV mass were significantly greater in athletes than in control subjects. An abnormal S-T segment response to exercise was present in 7 (9%) of the 75 athletes, all of whom had a LV mass greater than 275 g and in 5 the LV mass was above the 95th percentile of that of the control subjects. An abnormal treadmill exercise test result also was present in 3 (6%) of 48 control subjects. Seven of the 10 subjects with abnormal exercise test results had radionuclide angiograms at rest and with exercise, each of which was normal. It is concluded, therefore, that (1) abnormal exercise test results occur commonly in both athletes and non-athletes; (2) almost 10% of isometrically trained athletes have "false-positive" exercise electrocardiograms, suggesting that this test has major limitations in screening for underlying cardiovascular disease in athletes; and (3) in athletes, a relation was present between "physiologically" increased LV mass and false-positive exercise test results.
92909
You need a variety of strength training and cardiovascular exercises to help you.  Seek the advice of a certified personal trainer for correct execution and frequency.\n\nStrength Training exercises \nhttp://preventdisease.com/fitness/Strength_Exercises.html\n\nCardio Training\nhttp://preventdisease.com/fitness/fundament/articles/types_exercises.html