2.4.9

Heart Valve Disease

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Heart Valve Disease

Heart valves can become faulty, either by leaking or being unable to fully open:

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Leaky valves

  • Leaky valves allow the backflow of blood. This forces your heart to do more work to circulate the same volume of blood.
  • This creates a strain on the heart.
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Valves that do not fully open

  • Valves that do not open fully can obstruct blood flow.
  • So, a greater force is required to force the blood through the body.
  • This also adds to the strain on the heart.
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Fixing faulty valves

  • Animal or artificial valves can be inserted to replace faulty valves.
  • Although this is less drastic than a heart transplant, this still involves major surgery and problems with blood clots can happen.

Jump to other topics

1Cell Biology

1.1What's in Cells?

1.2Cell Division

1.3Transport in Cells

2Organisation

2.1Principles of Organisation

2.2Enzymes

2.3Circulatory System

2.4Non-Communicable Diseases

2.5Plant Tissues, Organs & Systems

3Infection & Response

4Bioenergetics

5Homeostasis & Response

5.1Homeostasis

5.2The Human Nervous System

5.3Hormonal Coordination in Humans

5.4Plant Hormones

6Inheritance, Variation & Evolution

7Ecology

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