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There are four valves and four chambers on the inside of your heart that are lined by a thin membrane that is called the endocardium. Endocarditis is infection and/or inflammation of this inner layer of your heart. Endocarditis usually involves your heart valves (native or prosthetic valves), also.

Bacterial endocarditis is one of the types of endocarditis. It affects somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 people in the United States each year. While bacterial endocarditis is not a common disease, it is important because even with antimicrobial therapy, this disease can lead to stroke, the need for open heart surgery or even death.

Bacterial endocarditis is caused by germs that enter your bloodstream, travel to your heart and attach to abnormal heart valves or damaged heart tissue. Bacteria are the cause of most cases, but fungi or other microorganisms can also result in this disease.

Sometimes, bacterial endocarditis results from one of many common bacteria that live in your mouth, upper respiratory tract or other parts of your body. In other cases, the organism that is responsible for this disease may enter into your bloodstream through:

• Respiratory tract or dental procedures
• Certain common activities like chewing food or brushing your teeth.
• Catheters or needles
• An infection or other medical condition.

The signs and symptoms that you may have with bacterial endocarditis vary according to the type of the disease and the cause of the infection. Possible signs and symptoms include:

• Chills
• Night sweats
• A persistent cough
• Unintended weight loss
• Oster’s nodes (tender spots under the skin on the pads of your fingers)
• Fever
• Arthritis or joint pain
• Splinter hemorrhages (dark red lines of bleeding under your nails)
• Headaches
• Chest or back pain
• Painless, bumpy nodules on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet
• Shortness of breath
• Petechiae (tiny, purplish-red pinpoint spots of bleeding under your skin).

There are other signs and symptoms that may be caused by bacterial endocarditis that can only be confirmed by your doctor. Some of these are:

• A change in the quality of an existing heart murmur or a new heart murmur
• Stroke
• Embolisms caused by clumps of blood cells and infectious fungi or bacteria
• An enlarged spleen.

You or a loved one may have been diagnosed with bacterial endocarditis. Bacterial endocarditis and/or complications that have been caused by it or other ailments that you have besides this disease may have led to you or your loved one’s disability and be what is keeping you from working.

You may need assistance because of this. You may need financial help.

You or your loved one may be considering applying for the financial assistance that you need from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability that has been caused by bacterial endocarditis and/or complications that have been brought about by it or other ailments that you have besides this disease. You may have already tried this option, and your claim was turned down by the Social Security Administration.

If you or your loved one has decided to reapply or appeal the denial, you really should keep this important fact in mind that you may be unaware of. The fact of the matter is that people who are represented by a disability attorney like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com are approved more often than people who do not have a disability lawyer in their corner.

Please do not wait. Contact the disability attorney at socialsecurityhome.com, today.

Infective endocarditis, which is sometimes called bacterial endocarditis strikes somewhere between 10,000 –20,000 people in the United States each year. Although endocarditis is not a common disease, it is important because even with antimicrobial therapy it can lead to the need for open heart surgery, stroke or even death.

Endocarditis is known by some other names besides the two just mentioned. It is also called rheumatic endocarditis, acute endocarditis, valvular endocarditis and mural endocarditis.

There are also several types of endocarditis. These range all the way from acute forms that appear suddenly to subacute forms that develop gradually over a period of time.

The effects that you may experience with endocarditis vary according to the cause of the infection and the type of the disease. Some of the ways that you may be affected by endocarditis are:

• Weight loss
• Night sweats
• Fever
• Chills
• Chest or back pain
• Joint or arthritis pain
• A persistent cough
• Shortness of breath
• Tiny, purplish-red pinpoint spots of bleeding under your skin (petechiae)
• Headaches
• Painless, bumpy nodules on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.
• Dark red lines of bleeding under your nails (splinter hemorrhages)
• Tender spots under the skin on the pads of your fingers (Oster’s nodes).

There are other clinical effects caused by endocarditis that will have to be confirmed by your doctor. Some of these are:

• An enlarged spleen
• Stroke
• A change in the quality of an existing heart murmur or a new heart murmur
• Embolisms caused by clumps of blood cells and infectious fungi or bacteria.

Endocarditis and problems along with or resulting from it may be causing you or a loved one’s disability. This disease may be why you or your loved one cannot work and needs financial assistance.

Who can you turn to for the financial help that you need? Where will this assistance come from?

Have you or your loved one applied for financial help from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by endocarditis and problems resulting from or along with this disease? Were you or your loved one denied?

If you or your loved one is planning on appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, here is something that you need to remember. People who are represented and assisted by a skilled disability attorney like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com are approved more often than those people who do not have a lawyer.

Do not wait. Do not put this off. Contact the trustworthy disability attorney at socialsecurityhome.com, today.