Rheumatic Heart Disease is something that you may have never heard of, or if you have, it may be something one of your grandparents had. It’s a disease that has been mostly ridden in many countries of the world by the appropriate use of antibiotics to treat sore throat infections. But in some places of the world, access to routine antibiotics is more difficult to obtain and so the initial triggering event in this disease is not stopped.

In rheumatic heart disease, a cascade of events is triggered by an infection in the throat leading to eventual inflammation of the heart valves, which then causes inappropriate thickening and eventual failure of the valves and that is definitely not a good thing. Without those valves being able to function as they should, fluid backs up into the lungs making it difficult to breathe and there may also start to be problems with how the electrical activity needs to pass through the heart adding to a whole new layer of issues….

So what can be done to help? A few things. First, diagnosing the disease is the most important, and that is with a clinic visit and an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). Next, once diagnosed, to try and help slow the progression of the disease and alleviate symptoms, medications are necessary! Lastly, and the most invasive is surgery; which happens when the heart valves have deteriorated and there is no choice but to perform a valve replacement. And in all of these steps, your contribution will help. It will go towards visits, medications, surgeries and hopefully more! You will be contributing directly to life-saving and changing care!