I have three leaking heart valves

Q:

I have 3 valves leaking one is mild and 2 are moderate. i also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.I am not really understanding what this means. i do know that my mother passed away at 53 from a heart attack but not sure what that means as far as my health goes. would like to know more about this.. thanks.

A:

You have four heart valves that help regulate the blood flow through your heart:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/anatomy-of-heart
Leaking valves cause your heart to function less efficiently and thus work harder than necessary. This is aggravated by your high blood pressure. A high cholesterol exposes you to the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (as well as other arteries.
You can read more here:
Valves:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/valve-disease
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/valve-disease/mitral-va
High blood pressure:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/hypertension
Cholesterol & Atherosclerosis:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/your-cholesterol
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/atherosclerosis
Coronary artery disease:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/coronary-artery-disease
You can calculate your risk here:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/app/risk-assessment.php
A lot of this can be controlled with medications, diet & exercise.
Whether or not you need treatment for your valves at this point depends the severity of the leakage and the positive effect of medications, diet & exercise.
Hope this helps,
Dr T
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/