This is What Really Causes an Enlarged Heart!
The heart is a tight, pear-shaped muscle
that pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. However, when it gets
sick, it becomes enlarged, and has to work a lot harder to carry out its
job.
Sandhya Balaram, MD, associate professor or
cardiovascular surgery at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in
New York City, says that “the heart changes shape to become more round
and spherical and bigger than its normal size. If the heart muscle is
failing and not working well, it’s the result of other problems in the
heart causing it to become weak.”
While some people are born with genetic diseases that trigger this
condition, it’s rare, says Dr. Balaram. Heart disease is the much more
common reason for it – this could be due to blocked heart arteries, high
blood pressure that has been left untreated, or long-term alcohol
abuse.
Since an enlarged heart is a serious issue, patients will have symptoms
well in advance. The most common signs are fatigue, shortness of breath,
and swelling of the abdomen or legs due to fluid retention.
Breathing issues might be particularly
noticeable at night when you’re laying down. This is because the heart
is struggling to pump well so fluid starts to back up into the lungs,
making it harder to breathe. “The heart and lungs are closely related,
they’re married, so when the heart has trouble then the lungs have
trouble too,” Dr. Balaram says.
Other signs that indicate that something isn’t right include, weight
gain without a change in diet or exercise, coughing, chest pain,
fainting, or dizziness.
There are different degrees of symptoms, depending on the person, but
shortness of breath and fluid retention are the most common. These
typically come out of nowhere and persist.
Once an enlarged heart is detected, there’s treatment to relieve the
symptoms and help the heart pump better, but there’s no fix. “Medical
treatment doesn’t make the heart stronger, it just helps the heart work a
little better,” says Dr. Balaram.
Some doctors might recommend surgery to treat the underlying cause of
the enlarged heart – such as clogged arteries or a valve problem – and
the last resort is a heart transplant. “Usually, it’s just controlling
the symptoms and seeing how the muscle does over a period of time,” says
Dr. Balaram. “We keep up with the patient in terms of how it looks, and
then plan further treatment from there."