Submitted by Dr T on April 13, 2011 – 8:50am
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.
You have four heart valves that help regulate the blood flow through your heart:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/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:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/valve-disease
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/valve-disease/mitral-va
High blood pressure:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/hypertension
Cholesterol & Atherosclerosis:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/your-cholesterol
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/atherosclerosis
Coronary artery disease:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/heart-information/coronary-artery-disease
You can calculate your risk here:
https://www.cardiachealth.org/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
https://www.cardiachealth.org/