Rheumatic Heart Disease should be discussed on the subject of its signs and symptoms, classifications, prevention, treatment, and diagnosis. It is the prerogative of people to know this information because being familiar with it will give a person the privilege to probably prevent its occurrence. Prevention is always better than cure.
The diseases concerning the heart can have infectious and infectious origins. On this case, the diseases originated from an infectious starting point. The heart may be an internal organ but that doesn’t exclude it to have an infectious disease. It is a type of organ that consists of striated smooth muscles that offers the special feature of the heart to contract and expand according to its functions same as for the kidneys.
The disease originated from a simple sore throat that is caused by GABHS or Group A Beta-Hemolytic Staphylococcus bacteria. A person who experiences more than three sore throats per year may have the higher risk of having the diseases even if there is no specific evidence that the person’s sore throat came from a GABHS infection. A simple sore throat can progress to Rheumatic Fever than can further develop into Rheumatic Heart Disease or Acute Glumerulonephritis (AGN).
Heart and kidney are involved in Rheumatic Fever because of the fact that the GABHS bacteria are akin to the smooth muscle cells which the two affected organs are made of. The immune system of the body therefore destroys the smooth muscle of normal cells of the heart and kidney instead of destroying the pathogen. The mechanism of action on this condition is comparable to autoimmune diseases, only in this case there is a known triggering factor that causes the action to take forth.
The signs of heart disease such as Rheumatic Heart Disease are essential to the detection of the condition. One of the criteria to be able to confirm the existence of the Rheumatic Fever is the Jones Criteria. This criterion refers to the symptoms of heart disease that come about duet o Rheumatic Fever. It comprises of several symptoms that are classified into major and minor criteria. The major criterion includes carditis, polyarthritis, erythema marginatum, subcutaneous nodules and chorea. The minor criterion involves various symptoms as well such as previous rheumatic fever, elevated temperature, high CRP and ESR levels, arthralgia and extended repute of the PR intervals reflected on the result of the ECG test.
Classification of the disease according to the manner of its occurrence, it may be acute and chronic. Acute RHD obviously has an abrupt incidence and Chronic RHD represents a long-standing complication. The diagnosis of this disease first focused to substantiate the incidence of a GABHS infection and later on the center of attention of the medical team is the damage or complications that took place because of the disease. More often than not, the symptoms and diagnosis will be the basis of the treatment type the patient would receive. If the patient has minimal heart damage, he may be suggested to treat the condition with medications. Nevertheless, when the patient’s condition is at stake, surgical interventions may be suggested by the physician.
For more information about Disease, Symptoms and Diagnosis, please visit: Rheumatic Heart Disease and Symptoms of Heart Disease.