Congenital heart disease ... children suffering as adults.

Hi! steemit community, as I had commented in my presentation, the topics that I would discuss in my profile would be oriented to share and complement knowledge dedicated mainly to the biological, medical, mathematical, artistic areas and any science that enriches the mind and provides a rewarding contribution to the community, so I allow myself to begin my first publication addressing a fairly recurrent medical issue but that society sometimes ignores to a great extent either for lack of information or simply ignore it by not having to do with us.

With that in mind I would like to speak to you on this occasion about nothing less than a type of human condition that is most present in our children known as Congenital Heart Disease.

Is it something we might hear in a medical report by radio? Or we briefly passed in a brochure that we discarded or maybe we heard it quickly from someone who, without our knowing it, was looking for a desperate help for some son, nephew or relative without paying any attention because it had nothing to do with us.

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Well, you can have an idea when integrating the word "Cardio" to the initial name of said condition that it is a direct reference to heart conditions, is in particular develops before birth, in the gestation stage and affects an average of 1 in every 1000 babies, causing from slight deformations to a great deterioration of the cardiovascular composition and malfunction of the cardiopulmonary system.

Currently there is no definitive verdict that can indicate a convincing cause of why this class of congenital diseases appear during pregnancy, studies have been conducted and there may be exceptional conditions that contribute to this class of conditions, However, until now, it is not possible to establish a standard of conditions that lead to the appearance of heart disease in the fetus.

The closest you could get to a diagnosis and more than anything in a preventive way for different types of complications beyond the cardiology would be that some situations such as tension problems, or some weight disease that requires constant medical assistance, without due pre and post natal control they can indirectly lead to problems for the embryo, however, this does not ensure that it develops a negative cardiological condition precisely; since the conditions that a baby can develop due to different problems during pregnancy are numerous and the percentages of variation of one with respect to another make it more difficult to determine the origins.

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Note: Talking about tension problems, epileptic episodes or insufficiency of any kind derives more directly in other types of conditions, different than congenital heart diseases.

There are different types of conditions and scales that are fulfilled to catalog this type of conditions, as well as to determine the level of damage they can cause in the patient and define a possible treatment against it or if this does not represent a significant risk to the child; among the most mentioned and common we have the following:

1. 

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   Ventricular septal defect (VSD - The most common): consists of an incomplete closure of the wall that divides the ventricles of the heart and it is present in an average of 2% to 5% of births, is a common heart disease that is often associated with other types of conditions rooted in the fetus such as Tetralogy of Fallot or Down Syndrome, however, it can also be acquired on its own and represents one of the most treatable conditions in terms of heart disease. It is even capable of healing by itself in 85% of cases.
2. Aortic Coarctation: this sub type can derive in two scenarios, it consists of a narrowing of the thoracic aorta, this can lead to severe heart failure if the state of the condition is quite pronounced, however, there are cases in which the patient does not develop any type of symptomatology until reaching maturity, this being one of the cardiopathies capable of reaching adulthood.
3. Atrial septal defect (ASD): in this case there is an opening between the upper cavities of the heart whereby an irregular blood flow occurs and consequently an overlapping effort of te heart, sometimes undetectable until late in childhood but nevertheless at some point and after manifesting will require medical assistance.
4. Tetralogy of Fallot: one of the most sounded at the same time that complicated since they are a total of four sufferings under a same diagnosis, these are VSD, Right Ventricular Hypertrophy (thicker cardiac muscles), Pulmonary stenosis (obstruction of the ventricle that connects with the pulmonary valve) and Dextraposition of the aorta or "Riding"
   

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   (here the aorta passes over the VSD and causes a lack of oxygen in the blood); generally this condition is one of those that presents a cyanosis (bluish coloration of the skin) partial in the patient and it is also one of the most difficult heart diseases to treat requiring in the great majority of cases surgical intervention

There are many more variations of this genetic condition, some even more elaborate or with even more complex characteristics. However, the most frequent variations for general knowledge are mentioned here, nevertheless, it should be noted that the symptoms of the vast majority of cases are similar and can be presented as follows:

• Heart murmur: is one of the heart failures that help define the existence of heart disease and one of the fastest that can be detected with medical assistance.
• Cyanosis: undoubtedly one of the easiest symptoms to detect since it is none other than the coloration of the skin in a bluish tone indicating a lack of oxygenation in the blood, something commonly rooted in heart or lung failure.
• Loss of consciousness: When heart failure is present, blood pressure tends to decrease, so blood flow to the brain is less, so episodes of fainting in people with these conditions occur more frequently and tend to be of longer duration.
• Tiredness or fatigue: people with heart failure and heart disease tend to have less resistance to physical exertion of any kind, even the simplest task in the case of babies such as crying or sucking at the time of feeding represents a greater than usual effort.

It should be noted that depending on the type of heart disease and its evolution over time (years) may present symptoms from birth if the heart failure is pronounced, as well as it can take several years to manifest itself as the affected person develops, since they may be able to reduce or increase the congenital malformation according to the particular case, in addition to the knowledge of the existence of this condition in the individual and the treatment that is applied to him/her/their.

It is important to always keep an up-to-date family medical history or at least previous knowledge that will lead us to prevent this type of situation for our offspring, we must remember that although there are no demonstrable causes yet of the origins of these conditions; we can contribute with information that helps to study and combat this kind of situations if they were presented in our lives.

This kind of diseases are a reality, it is difficult to notice them after the innocence of a life that has just begun and sometimes we can not believe that they are possible, that's why sometimes we miss the opportunity to know more about it, but it is something that is very present and the chances that someone in our family may suffer from a condition like this, although they are not high, they are not impossible.

In any case it is advisable to always maintain a complete and periodic medical evaluation, remember that health care begins with ourselves, as well as being aware of anything that may affect us, a partner, family member or even society, since the best way to begin to fight the evils that afflict us is to start fighting against indifference and ignorance.

• http://www.fundaciondelcorazon.com/informacion-para-pacientes/enfermedades-cardiovasculares/cardiopatias-congenitas.html
• https://medlineplus.gov/spanish/ency/article/001114.htm
• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopat%C3%ADa_cong%C3%A9nita#Clasificaci%C3%B3n
• http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/es/topic/default?id=cardiopatacongnita-90-P05455
• http://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=congenitalheartdisease-90-P02346
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_heart_defect
• https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/heartdefects/data.html