Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
General Heart Health as We Age Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND I have talked about how we can keep both our cholesterol levels and blood pressure healthy as we age. But what if your heart is already healthy? How do you keep your heart healthy as …
Pulled Back Muscles or Muscle Strain Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Experiencing a pulled muscle or muscle strain is probably one of the causes of back pain that almost everyone has heard of. Whether you’ve experienced it yourself or know someone who has experienced it a …
Mitral Valve Prolapse
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Our next topic is one that will draw heavily upon the anatomy blog that I wrote a while ago. This topic is mitral valve prolapse (MVP). Do you recall how the heart was divided into left and right and then into top and bottom? Well the mitral valve is the valve on the left side. It is the doorway or divider between the left atrium and the left ventricle. As you may recall the mitral valve keeps the blood flowing in the correct direction. In other words it prevents the blood from flowing backward or what is medically referred to as “regurgitating”. Please see the attached picture for a refresher of what the mitral valve looks like. (1)
As we know sometime things can go wrong no matter how well the system is designed. Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a problem with the mitral valve. In this heart disorder the mitral valve flaps have become enlarged or stretched out. What this means is that they don’t close properly and therefore don’t form a tight seal and the blood can actually leak backward. One way to imagine this is to think of a doorway. Imagine if the doorframe is too big for the door. In this case there would be no seal between the door and doorway and thus a gap that allows wind to pass through. When this happens with the mitral valve the backflow of blood is called mitral valve regurgitation. (2)
Many people who have MVP have little to no symptoms. For those who do experience symptoms these can include a racing, irregular heartbeat as well as fatigue. You may have difficulty breathing and may even have dizziness. Lastly depending on the severity of the MVP you may experience chest pain that is not caused by heart attack or coronary artery disease. (2)
Now let’s move on to the most common causes of MVP. To start with MVP affects approximately 3% of the population. Women in general are more likely to be diagnosed with MVP than men. MVP does appear to run in families and can be inherited. There are certain chronic conditions that increase the risk of developing MVP. These include Marfan’s syndrome, Muscular dystrophy, Ehlers- Danlos syndrome, Graves’ disease, Ebstein’s anomaly and Scoliosis. (2)
Depending on the severity of MVP there can be complications that occur. Most common is mitral valve regurgitation which as I’ve said is where the blood flows backward. This backward flow of blood makes it harder for the heart to work. If there is severe regurgitation there may be swelling of the upper left atrium and this can lead to arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats. (3)
One important point I want to make about MVP, is that it can get worse as we get older. This makes sense since the heart like all things begins to “wear out” as we age. Certain heart concerns such as prior heart attack or coronary artery disease can hasten this process. This is why it is important to monitor the symptoms you experience due to MVP. As the MVP gets worse over time so will the symptoms. In some cases it will be helpful to take certain medications. In other cases if the MVP is severe enough surgery may be necessary. If the MVP is severe enough to re quire surgery it is very important to follow these recommendations. For those who need surgery but don’t have it the outlook has a tendency to be poor. For those who need surgery but don’t have it there is a 20% chance of dying within the year and a 50% chance of dying within 5 years. (4) I know surgery is always a scary option, but remember that Invite nutritionists are always available to help you with any concerns that you may have.
Now what supplements can help support our Mitral Valve?
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The Confusing World of Heart Arrhythmias Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Arrhythmia is a word that you may have heard of but may not know what it means. So what exactly is an arrhythmia? Basically an arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat. In general we can …
Congestive Heart Failure Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Our next topic is something that may seem uncommon but is actually more common than you would think. This is congestive heart failure. When people refer to having a “weak heart” they are referring to congestive heart …
Written by Dr.Claire Arcidiacono, ND
For further questions or concerns email me at carcidiacono@invitehealth.com†
In this final part on strokes, I wanted to review the most common symptoms that can indicate a stroke. One point I would like to emphasize is that we are all individuals. We all know how our body feels when everything is working correctly. Therefore if you feel something is wrong or not working properly it is important to seek appropriate medical care. This is especially important when it comes to strokes because the earlier they are treated the better the outcome.†
To start with there is an easy mnemonic to remember the early signs of a stroke. This is FAST which stands for facial droop, arm weakness, speech difficulty, and time to call emergency services. (1) Depending on where the stroke occurs there can be what is referred to as hemiparesis or a weakness of one entire side of the body. This can include muscle weakness in the face. (2) There may also be numbness in different parts of the body. There may be a reduction in sensory or vibratory sensation. An individual may have initially decreased muscle tone that is replaced by increased muscle tone as well as excessive reflexes. † (3)
If the stroke occurs in the brain stem the cranial nerves may also be affected. This means that there may be changes in your sense of smell, taste, hearing and even vision. There may be a weakness in the muscles of the eyelid and even the eyes themselves. There may also be balance changes. There can also be weakness in certain other muscles such as the face, sternocleidomastoid and even the tongue. If the stoke involves the cerebral cortex there may be additional symptoms such as confusion and hypersexual gestures. (4) Other symptoms that can be associated with a stroke can include loss of consciousness, headache, and even in some cases vomiting.† (5)
In summary if you have a family history of stoke or any of the other risk factors the main thing that you want to be aware of is to use the FAST mnemonic. If there is an inability to move/feel one side of the body or problems with speech, dizziness or even loss of vision it is important to get medical attention ASAP. † (6)
How do we reduce our risk factors? It is always important to talk to your doctor about any risk factors you may have. An Invite nutritionist is always available to help talk to you about incorporating supplements into your lifestyle and how that would work with any medications you may be taking. It is always important to review any medications you are talking with a nutritionist before starting a supplement protocol to ensure that the supplements work together and don’t contradict with your medications. This is especially important when talking about stroke supplements due to the nature of many prescriptions that are used after a stroke. As I always say, better safe than sorry. On to some supplements! †
DIABETES TYPE 2, INVITE HEALTH BLOG>>READ NOW
In our blog next week we will be reviewing age related memory changes.†
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