Dr. Naji Kholaif

No, they are not known to do that.

Major risk factors include high blood pressure and and abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. This rhythm is not uncommon in people with high stress levels and with alcohol intake (even in moderation) symptoms include heart palpitations and shortness of breath by can be without symptoms. If you have this rhythm all the time a regular ECG Chan detect that..
Other risk factors include a family history of early stoke, diabetes smoking.

Yes they can. In fact the majority of patients on dialysis die from heart problems rather then kidney problems.

No. Some blood pressure medications can cause a dry cough, but not chest heaviness. If this persists, then you need to visit a physician.

Palpitations are a very common symptom, especially for young and middle aged females. The majority of cases are related to anxiety and stress, but some are related to abnormal heart rhythms. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference. Talk to your doctor and see if you need an EKG and and if you need further testing if it's normal, like a 24 -hour holter monitor (basically it looks at your heart rhythm for 24 hours).

So there are different valves which are treated differently.
In adults the aortic valve is usually only replaced surgically or percutanously as is the pulmonic valve. The tricuspid valve is rarely replaced and usually repaired.
Usually the question is about the mitral valve.. and the answer to that, is that a repair is always attempted because if repaired well there will be no need for blood thinners and the results are long lasting. The success rate of being able to repair a valve depends on what was the pathology that lead to the leaking valve? And which part of the valve is damaged and how extensive. A favorable anatomy of the mitral valve repaired in a high volume Centre has a success rate of over 95%.

Having a heart attack in the past definitely puts you at an increased risk of having another one and/or having narrowing of the vessels with resulting chest pain (angina pectoris). The most important thing related to your chest pain is whether or not it is related to activity, and when it comes on, is it relieved by rest. This is more important and predictive if this is related to narrowing of arteries supplying the heart or whether it is something else.
Other causes of chest pain include muscle and bone pains of the chest, lung involvement like an infection or bronchitis. There are a number of other more rare causes as well. If this chest pain is bothering you, or if it is brought up by activity, I would suggest you talk to your doctor and see if he can arrange for you an exercise stress test or some other test like a MIBI, if appropriate.

I would highly recommend an ablation for a child who is already having symptoms at this age. Medications are usually given to very mild symptoms in adults. Children might have a lot of side effects and since this is a congenital problem, it will not go a way with time so commenting a child to life-long medications is not a good idea.

The best way to go is to have your mom evaluated by a physical therapist who has experience in stroke patients. They give detailed plans that are customized toward each individual patient. We see a great deal of improvement with patients who do supervised physical therapy, a lot of whom regain most of their strength.

Depends on how many they are.. if they are less then 5000/day on medications and so far your Left ventricle ejection fraction is normal (EF) then it is unlikely to be a problem

Running is definitely good for your heart. I would advise to keep on running but in addition to that, stop smoking if you do, and adhere to a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in sodium (less salt) avoid canned and processed foods. Incorporate olive oil and nuts to your daily meals. That being said, if you blood pressure continues to be high talk to your doctor to start on medications and when you start make sure they are enough to lower your blood pressure. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you lower your blood pressure it matters that it's low (less then 140/90).

The most accurate way of diagnosing mitral valve prolapse is a current echocardiogram.. you definitely could have a normal echo 6 years ago and now have it and the murmur might not be that audible. Mitral valve prolapse on its own dose not cause the symptoms to describe.. unless there is significant mitral valve regurgitation (blood leaking through the valve) you will be completely without symptoms, any symptoms you have is likely not related to the valve in this case.

Surgery is never just for an enlarged heart.. rather for specific causes of enlarged heart like different valve diseases and an enlarged specific area of the heart called the septum and other causes like hypertension which does not require surgery..