Unfortunately, heart valves do not tend to heal themselves. It is true that some infants born with heart murmurs will eventually grow out of the murmur as the heart matures.

Left untreated, leaky heart valves can cause serious complications, including heart failure, atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) or pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lung’s vessels). The good news is that valve problems are often quite treatable.

Around 80% of patients with mild symptoms live for at least 10 years after diagnosis. In 60% of these patients, the disease may not progress at all.

In heart valve disease, one or more of the valves in your heart doesn’t work properly. Your heart has four valves that keep blood flowing in the correct direction. In some cases, one or more of the valves don’t open or close properly. This can cause the blood flow through your heart to your body to be disrupted.

Some physical signs of heart valve disease can include:

• Chest pain or palpitations (rapid rhythms or skips)
• Shortness of breath, difficulty catching your breath, fatigue, weakness, or inability to maintain regular activity level.
• Lightheadedness or fainting.
• Swollen ankles, feet or abdomen.

People with symptoms due to severe aortic valve regurgitation may benefit from certain blood pressure medicines called vasodilators. Other drug treatments for congestive heart failure, such as diuretics, can be helpful in severe aortic regurgitation.

Signs and symptoms of mitral valve regurgitation, which depend on its severity and how quickly the condition develops, can include: Abnormal heart sound (heart murmur) heard through a stethoscope. Shortness of breath (dyspnea), especially when you have been very active or when you lie down. Fatigue.

Key points about aortic valve regurgitation It becomes leaky allowing some blood flow back into the left ventricle instead of forward into the body. You may not have symptoms for many years. Chronic aortic valve regurgitation may get worse. It may require surgery.

Trauma can cause valves to leak, as can infection of the heart valve or damage from rheumatic fever. High blood pressure, pulmonary hypertension, and an enlarged heart can also cause leaking valves. Some heart surgeries to correct heart defects in children may result in leaking valves later in life.

7 powerful ways you can strengthen your heart

1. Get moving. Your heart is a muscle and, as with any muscle, exercise is what strengthens it.
2. Quit smoking. Quitting smoking is tough.
3. Lose weight. Losing weight is more than just diet and exercise.
4. Eat heart-healthy foods.
5. Don’t forget the chocolate.
6. Don’t overeat.
7. Don’t stress.

When you have heart failure, you should avoid white bread, white rice, regular pasta, many boxed breakfast cereals, and other processed grains.

A minimally invasive procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) may be used to replace a damaged aortic valve. In this procedure, the doctor inserts a long, thin tube (catheter) into an artery in your leg or chest and guides it to the heart valve.

Not all conditions that lead to heart failure can be reversed, but treatments can improve the signs and symptoms of heart failure and help you live longer. Lifestyle changes — such as exercising, reducing sodium in your diet, managing stress and losing weight — can improve your quality of life.

7 Powerful Ways You Can Strengthen Your Heart

1. Get moving. Your heart is a muscle and, as with any muscle, exercise is what strengthens it.
2. Quit smoking. Quitting smoking is tough.
3. Eat heart-healthy foods.
4. Don’t forget the chocolate. The good news: chocolate and wine contribute to heart health.
5. Don’t overeat.
6. Stress less.

The symptoms of end-stage congestive heart failure include dyspnea, chronic cough or wheezing, edema, nausea or lack of appetite, a high heart rate, and confusion or impaired thinking.

As heart failure gets worse, fluid starts to build up in your lungs and other parts of your body. This may cause you to: Feel short of breath even at rest. Have swelling (edema), especially in your legs, ankles, and feet.

In the final stages of heart failure, people feel breathless both during activity and at rest. Persistent coughing or wheezing. This may produce white or pink mucus. The cough may be worse at night or when lying down.

In a recent study, it was reported that patients hospitalized with moderate systolic heart failure faced a median expected survival time of 2.4 years if they were aged 71 to 80 years and 1.4 years if they were aged 80 years or more. In patients with more advanced systolic dysfunction, life expectancy was even shorter.

Approximately 90% of heart failure patients die from cardiovascular causes. Fifty per cent die from progressive heart failure, and the remainder die suddenly from arrhythmias and ischaemic events.

Patients with congestive heart failure have a high incidence of sudden cardiac death that is attributed to ventricular arrhythmias. The mortality rate in a group of patients with class III and IV heart failure is about 40% per year, and half of the deaths are sudden.

Patients are considered to be in the terminal end stage of heart disease when they have a life expectancy of six months or less. Only a doctor can make a clinical determination of congestive heart failure life expectancy.

Although there have been recent improvements in congestive heart failure treatment, researchers say the prognosis for people with the disease is still bleak, with about 50% having an average life expectancy of less than five years. For those with advanced forms of heart failure, nearly 90% die within one year.

Early signs of heart failure in the elderly are similar to those found in other age groups, which include worsening or shortness of breath, fatigue, bloating, lack of appetite, persistent cough, lack of appetite and nausea. Other symptoms may include a mental decline or depression.

Over time, if your health gets worse, you may learn that you have advanced heart failure, also known as end-stage heart failure. It means the treatments you’ve used in the past to keep your health stable no longer work.

Diastolic HF is associated with high mortality comparable with that of HF with depressed ejection fraction with a five year survival rate after a first episode of 43% and a higher excess mortality compared with the general population.

Scientists may have discovered a way of reversing heart failure by getting heart muscle to regenerate itself. Share on Pinterest It may be possible that a newly discovered cardiovascular repair process could reverse heart failure.

We propose that stage D advanced heart failure be defined as the presence of progressive and/or persistent severe signs and symptoms of heart failure despite optimized medical, surgical, and device therapy. Impor- tantly, the progressive decline should be primarily driven by the heart failure syndrome.