What are the causes of childhood heart disease?

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Childhood heart disease can happen, which many people wonder and do not think that heart disease can happen to children? This is because information about heart disease is mostly related to adults or the elderly. But in fact, heart disease in children has the same chance of happening as heart disease in adults. Children have the chance of having heart disease since they are still in their mother’s womb. Some cases are detecte since birth, some cases are detecte after 1-2 months of age.

Therefore, parents should study about heart disease in children and observe their children’s symptoms regularly because heart disease in children can be cured if detecte early and treate promptly.

Heart disease in children can be divid into the following major groups:

Symptoms of childhood heart disease

  • No symptoms or incidental detection of a murmur in the heart 
  • Symptoms include easily getting tired, rapid breathing, being tired when sucking, breathing harder than normal children, taking longer to suck than normal, and sweating a lot when sucking. 
  • Slow growth, not growing well 
  • Have a history of frequent and severe lower respiratory tract infections.
  • Symptoms include cyanosis of the lips, skin, fingers, and toes, more than in normal children.
  • Cyanosis is a sudden increase in cyanosis after exertion, waking up in the morning, or when the body is dehydrate or anemic. Patients will have more cyanosis than before, along with deep breathing. In some cases, it is so severe that they become lethargic, have convulsions, or lose consciousness. 

The symptoms found depend on the severity of the disease. Some children may not have any abnormalities at all, while some have severe symptoms that are a major cause of death. Because the heart and blood vessel abnormalities are so severe that they cannot adjust to life after birth, some may have complications that make the symptoms worse. Or some do not receive proper and timely treatment, causing death.