Heart Disease In Children

• Jul 23
• Cardiac Care

Your heart plays a vital role in your overall body functioning. Belonging to an era that offers convenience and unhealthy food, people often neglect taking care of their hearts. This neglect often develops in the form of heart diseases, prevalent in adults and children. While it’s common to hear about heart conditions developing in adults over time, children in many cases are born with heart diseases as well.

Nearly 15,000 heart surgeries are conducted on children in India every year but this is nowhere close to the number of children who are diagnosed with heart diseases

Let’s take a closer look:

A child could suffer from Congenital Heart Defects (CHD). These are basically problems that affect the structure of the heart, which are present from birth. Nearly 180,000 children in India are said to be born with Congenital Heart Defects every year. About 60,000-90,000 children would require early interventions due to their severity.

Apart from CDH, another prevalent heart disease to keep in mind is Rheumatic Heart Disease. Around 325000 children are diagnosed with this disease while 18 million people live with it throughout the world. It follows after rheumatic fever, typically characterized by permeant damage to the heart vessel. This disease develops more commonly in children between the ages of 5-15 in most cases. It does not end here.

Kawasaki disease or syndrome is another common illness that affects children. It is typically characterized by inflammation in the blood vessels. This illness is also said to affect the heart and is commonly found in children below the age of five. It’s quite uncommon to be diagnosed with this illness after the age of five. The cause for this illness still remains unidentified.

Factors for heart disease in children

Each heart disease has its own cause and factors. If we look at Congenital Heart Disease, the defect develops during the gestation period. During pregnancy, if there had been an intake of alcohol, medication or tobacco it can cause the development of the defect. Sometimes the defect can develop due to hereditary causes.

In the case of Rheumatic Heart Disease, it is caused by the Streptococcus pyrogens which is a type of bacteria. This another leading cause for the development of heart disease amongst children. Sometimes certain infections can cause complications to the child’s heart.

To look at another cause that increases the prevalence of acquiring heart disease, childhood obesity can attribute as a factor for heart attack in older children and adolescents. Some symptoms to keep on a look out for are shortness of breath, fatigue, difficulty feeding etc. It’s not always linked to heart disease but it’s better to be aware.

We, FortisMalar is are dedicated to providing the best healthcare possible with our state-of-the-art facilities. Popularly known as one of the best Pediatrics Hospital in Chennai in India we are equipped to provide few of the best heart surgery doctor at Fortis Malar.

Heart disease is an epidemic that is faced by many people and by many children as well. It is always best to think twice and take care of your heart to be able to live a long, happy and content life.