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Your heart is the very center of your cardiovascular system. Your heart pumps blood by means of your body’s blood vessels to all of the cells in your body. Your blood has oxygen that your cells have to have to live and function properly. Heart disease is a broad medical term that is used for a group of diseases that take place when your heart and blood vessels are not working like they should.

Your mitral valve is also called the bicuspid valve or left atrioventricular valve. It is a dual-flap valve that separates your lower (ventricle) and upper (atrium) chambers of the left side of your heart. Your mitral valve is responsible for controlling blood flow from your left atrium into your left ventricle.

Mitral stenosis is a disease that is marked by your heart’s mitral valve becoming narrowed (stenotic). It becomes stiff or scarred, or the flaps are partially joined together. The causes your mitral valve to not open the way that it ought to. This hinders the flow of blood through your heart, as well as the rest of your body.

The incidence of mitral stenosis has decreased due to the fact that the incidence of rheumatic fever has decreased. Rheumatic fever is the most common cause of mitral stenosis. Somewhere around 40% of people with rheumatic fever are affected by mitral stenosis.

Mitral stenosis affects women for more often than men. In fact, two-thirds of the people with this disease are women.

As stated earlier, rheumatic fever is the number one cause of mitral stenosis. There are other things that can also cause this disease. These include:

• Excessive calcium deposits
• Tumors or growths
• Radiation treatment to your chest
• Certain medications
• Blood clots
• Congenital heart defects.

Mitral stenosis may not cause any signs or symptoms or only extremely light ones for decades. Then, this disease can suddenly get much worse. Possible signs and symptoms that you may experience are:

• Swollen feet or ankles
• Feeling tired or weak
• Frequent respiratory infections like bronchitis
• Heart palpitations (sensations of fluttering, rapid heartbeat)
• Fatigue that comes especially during periods of increased activity
• Occasionally, chest discomfort or pain
• Shortness of breath that occurs especially when you lie down or exert yourself
• Heavy coughing that can occur with blood-tinged sputum.

You or a loved one may have mitral stenosis. Mitral stenosis and/or complications that have arisen from it or other conditions that you have in addition to this disease may have brought about you or your loved one’s disability and inability to work.

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Your heart is the center of your cardiovascular system. Your heart pumps blood to all of your cells through your body’s blood vessels. Your blood carries oxygen that your cells require to function properly.

Almost everyone knows that cardiovascular disease is an extremely serious matter. However, most Americans think that cardiovascular disease is something that other people have. It may surprise you to know that an estimated 70 million Americans have some kind of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States of both men and women. Almost 700,000 people die from cardiovascular disease in the United States every year. This represents about 29% of all deaths in the United States.

Cardiovascular disease is an umbrella term for a large number of diseases that affect your heart. Cardiovascular disease refers to a group of diseases that occur when your heart and blood vessels are not working like they should.

As already mentioned, there are several forms or kinds of cardiovascular disease. Some of these are:

• Cardiomyopathy – This is when your heart muscle itself becomes inflamed and does not work like it should.
• Congestive Heart Failure – This is when your heart cannot pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs.
• Angina – This is chest pain that occurs when your heart is not getting enough blood.
• Coronary Artery Disease – This is when your heart arteries become blocked with plaque.
• Pericarditis – This is swelling and irritation of the pericardium, the thin sac-like membrane that surrounds your heart.
• Cardiac Arrhythmias – This is when your heart is beating too fast, too slow or irregularly.
• Arteriosclerosis / Atherosclerosis – This is hardening of your arteries.

Cardiovascular disease is not contagious. You do not catch it like the flu or the measles.

There are certain things that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease that doctors refer to as risk factors. Some of these risk factors are things that you cannot do anything about like heredity and aging. Other risk factors are things that you can do something about like smoking, high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity and not exercising.

Often, the first sign or symptom of cardiovascular disease is chest pain. Some other possible signs and symptoms are:

• Becoming suddenly cold
• Weakness

• Difficulty breathing or being out of breath
• Sweating
• Nausea.

Iron is a mineral that is found in many foods. Your body normally absorbs about 10 percent of the iron in the food that you eat. With iron storage disease, you absorb more iron than you require. Your body does not have any natural way to get rid of this excess iron. It becomes stored in your body tissues. This is especially true of your liver, heart and pancreas. This excess iron can result in damage to your organs. Iron storage disease may cause your organs to fail if you do not get treatment for it.

There are different types of iron storage disease. Primary iron storage disease is an inherited disease. It is also known as hereditary iron storage disease. Secondary iron storage disease results from an underlying condition.

Juvenile iron storage disease and neonatal iron storage disease are two additional types of the disease. Juvenile iron storage disease results in severe iron overload and liver and heart disease in adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 30. The neonatal form of the disease causes rapid iron buildup in a baby’s liver that can lead to death.

Some people with hereditary (primary) iron storage disease never have any signs or symptoms. Other people have a wide range of signs and symptoms. These signs and symptoms may be different for women and men and can vary greatly from person to person.

The early signs and symptoms of iron storage disease are like those of other common conditions. Some of these include:

• Low thyroid function (hypothyroidism)
• Lack of normal menstruation in women (amenorrhea)
• Impotence or loss of libido (sex drive)
• Stiffness in your joints
• High blood sugar levels
• Arthritis, especially in your hands
• Chronic fatigue
• Abdominal pain
• Abnormal liver function tests, even though no signs are present.

Later stages of iron storage disease may result in serious conditions. Some of these include:

• Liver failure
• Congestive heart failure
• Liver cancer
• Cirrhosis, which is irreversible scarring of your liver
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• Discolored skin that is gray or bronze in appearance
• Diabetes.

Your distal muscles are your muscles that are situated the farthest from the center of your body. These are the muscles of your feet, hands, legs and lower arms.

Distal myopathy is a general term for a group of rare progressive genetic disorders. Distal myopathy is marked by atrophy (wasting) of your voluntary distal muscles.

Distal myopathy can begin at any age from infancy to adulthood. However, most of the forms of distal myopathy occur later in life and progress slowly.

Distal myopathy belongs to an even larger group of disorders that are known as the muscular dystrophies. The muscular dystrophies are evidenced by weakness of various voluntary muscles throughout your body. The muscular dystrophies affect different muscles and have different ages at which they begin. They also vary in inheritance patterns and severity.

The different types of distal myopathy are caused by several different genetic defects. All of these genetic defects are not known at the present time. This means that it is a disorder that you inherit from your parents. The inheritance pattern can be autosomal dominant. This means that you only have to inherit a defective gene from one of your parents in order to have the possibility of having distal myopathy. Or, this disorder can also be autosomal recessive. This means that you have to inherit a faulty gene from both of your parents in order to have the possibility of getting distal myopathy.

The primary signs and symptoms of distal myopathy are weakness and wasting (atrophy) in the muscles of your forearms, hands and lower legs. In time, however, other muscle groups may be affected.

As mentioned earlier, the signs and symptoms of distal myopathy usually progress slowly. Other possible signs and symptoms that you may experience are:

• Frequent falls
• Heart problems
• Difficulty walking
• Joint contractures
• A waddling gait.
• Impaired hand function
• A weak grasp.

The specific signs and symptoms, severity and progression of distal myopathy vary greatly, even among members of the same family with this disorder. Distal myopathy does not affect your intellect.

You or a loved one may be afflicted with distal myopathy. Distal myopathy and/or complications that have developed from it or other illnesses that you have along with this disorder may have caused you or your loved one’s disability and inability to work.

Intestinal angina is postprandial abdominal pain that comes about because you do not have sufficient blood flow to take care of your mesenteric visceral demands. Intestinal angina is stop and start again abdominal pain that often takes place at a fixed time after eating.

One good thing about intestinal angina is that it is extremely rare. Women have intestinal angina three times as often as men. It is most common in people over 60 years of age.

One thing that you need to keep in mind is that intestinal angina is not a disease. It is a sign or symptom of an underlying disorder that is causing this condition. In fact, intestinal angina may be the main sign or symptom of the underlying disorder that is causing it.

The underlying cause of intestinal angina is usually your stomach and intestines temporarily having insufficient amounts of blood that are needed for these organs to function like they should. A condition that is known as arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) is almost always the cause of this poor circulation of blood. In rare cases, there are other disorders that may cause intestinal angina. Some of these are:

§  Aortic coarctation

§  Antiphospholipid syndrome

§  Carcinoid tumor.

There is one principle risk factor for intestinal angina. It is smoking. Somewhere between 75 and 80% of the people who develop intestinal angina are smokers.

Even though intestinal angina is a sign or symptom of an underlying disorder rather than being a disease, the primary symptom or indication of this condition is disabling central abdominal pain that usually begins 10-15 minutes after eating. This pain usually gets worse until it reaches a plateau. Then, it slowly goes away several hours after eating.

When intestinal angina first starts, this pattern of pain usually only occurs after eating a large meal. However, as time goes on, the pain happens even after small meals. You begin to associate the eating of a meal with pain.

Another sign or symptom of intestinal angina is substantial weight loss. This is unintended weight loss.

You or a loved one may be experiencing intestinal angina. This condition may be the primary indication of an underlying disorder that is the reason why you or your loved one is disabled and cannot work.

If this is your situation, you may need help. You may need financial assistance.

You or your loved one may be intending to apply for the financial help that you need from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability that has resulted from an underlying disorder whose primary sign or symptom is intestinal angina. You may have already taken this step, and your application was denied by the Social Security Administration.

If you or your loved one is planning on reapplying or appealing the denial, you really need to remember this important fact that you may not be aware of. The simple truth is that people who have a disability attorney working for them like the one you will find at socialsecurityhome.com are approved more often than people who are not represented by a disability lawyer.

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Chest pain is not always a sign of an impending heart attack. Many times, chest pain is not related to any heart problem. Even if your chest pain is not related to your heart, it may still be a sign of a serious problem.

The effects of chest pain are different according to what is causing your chest pain. If your chest pain is heart related, it can be an indication of:

§  A heart attack can cause fullness, pressure or a crushing chest pain that lasts longer than a few minutes.

§  Pericarditis causes a sharp, piercing chest pain that is centralized.

§  Angina can cause recurrent episodes of chest pain.

§  Coronary artery spasm can cause varying degrees of chest pain.

§  Aortic dissection can cause a sudden, tearing chest pain as well as back pain.

Non-heart related chest pain can be a sign or symptom of:

§  Heartburn is a burning, painful sensation behind your breastbone. It usually follows a meal and can last for hours.

§  Pleurisy causes a sharp, localized chest pain that gets worse when you cough or inhale.

§  Panic attack can cause chest pain as well as intense fear, rapid breathing and heartbeat, shortness of breath and profuse sweating.

§  Pulmonary embolism causes a sharp, sudden chest pain that gets worse when you cough or take a deep breath.

§  Costochondritis can cause sudden, intense pain that may cause you to think you are having a heart attack. A heart attack usually involves pain that is more widespread.

§  Injured ribs or pinched nerves can cause chest pain.

§  Sore muscles usually cause chest pain when you raise your arms or twist from side to side.

§  Achalasia is a swallowing disorder that causes food to back up into your esophagus causing chest pain.

§  Esophageal spasms can cause chest pain.

§  Gallbladder or pancreas problems can cause abdominal pain that radiates to your chest.

§  Shingles can cause a sharp, burning chest pain.

Whatever is causing your chest pain may be keeping you from working. The underlying cause of your chest pain may be the reason you are disabled.

Do you need help? Do you need financial help?

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Your aortic valve is one of your heart’s four valves. It allows oxygen-rich blood to flow from your left ventricle into the largest artery of your body, the aorta. The blood is then transported to the rest of your body.

A normal aortic valve has three leaflets (cusps). These leaflets are what control the blood flow of your heart’s left ventricle.

Bicuspid aortic valve disease (BAVD) is a group of conditions that affect your heart. People who have BAVD have only two leaflets in their aortic valve. With the passage of time, this can cause several different medical problems.

There are two kinds of bicuspid aortic valve disease that can bring about stress to your heart. The first is bicuspid aortic valve insufficiency. This is a condition in which your aortic valves do not close as tightly as they are supposed to. This lets blood backup into your heart. This is referred to as leakage or regurgitation.

The second kind of BAVD is bicuspid aortic valve stenosis. This condition is where there is a narrowing of your deformed aortic valve. This places greater stress on your heart’s left ventricle because it has to work harder to pump blood through your valve that has been narrowed.

Bicuspid aortic valve is the most common congenital (present at birth) heart defect. It is estimated that as many as 2% of the population of the United States have this heart defect. This condition is nearly twice as common in men as in women.

You may not have any signs and symptoms with bicuspid aortic valve disease. Some of the signs and symptoms that you may have are:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Aneurysms
• Endocarditis (heart valve infection)
• Kidney and liver cysts
• Nearsightedness
• Organs throughout your body may be affected
• Shortness of breath, especially during any kind of exertion
• Fainting or dizziness
• Chest pain.

You or a loved one may be suffering with bicuspid aortic valve disease. This disease and/or complications resulting from it may be the reason for your disability and why you cannot work.

You may need help if this is true. You may need financial assistance.

Do you or your loved one intend to apply for the financial help that you need from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by bicuspid aortic valve disease and/or complications resulting from it? You or your loved one may have already taken this step and been denied by the Social Security Administration?

If you or your loved one is planning on appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, think about this carefully. People who are represented by a disability lawyer like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who do not have a disability attorney on their side.

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The major artery that goes out of your heart is the aorta. This artery branches off of your heart and carries oxygen-rich blood from your left ventricle to your body.

Your aorta is shaped like a candy cane. The first section goes up towards your head. Then it curves in a C-shape. It becomes straight after the curve and goes down towards your abdomen.

Coarctation of the aorta or aortic coarctation is a condition in which there is a narrowing of your aorta. Coarctation is a term that means a drawing or pressing together. This causes your heart to have to pump harder in order to force blood through your constricted aorta.

Coarctation of the aorta is usually a congenital condition. This means that it is a heart defect that is present at birth.

Coarctation of the aorta occurs in about one in every 5,000 births. This means that around 800 people get this condition each year in the United States. It accounts for from 5 to 8% of all congenital heart defects.

Coarctation of the aorta may occur as an isolated heart defect. However, it is often present with other heart defects like VSD (ventricular septal defect) and bicuspid aortic valve.

Even though this condition is generally congenital, it may not be discovered until adulthood. The reason for this is because coarctation of the aorta can range anywhere from being mild to severe. This is determined by how much the aorta is narrowed.

If coarctation of the aorta is mild, you may not have any signs or symptoms. Signs and symptoms that you may experience include:

• A pounding headache
• Leg cramps that come with exercise
• A decreased ability to exercise
• Fainting or dizziness
• Chest pain
• Hypertension (high blood pressure) when you exercise
• Poor growth
• Shortness of breath
• Cold legs or feet
• Failure to thrive
• Nosebleed
• Muscle weakness.

You or a loved one may have been diagnosed with coarctation of the aorta. This heart defect and/or complications resulting from it may be why you are disabled and not able to work.

If this is true, you may need assistance. You may need financial help.

Have you or your loved one decided to apply 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 caused by coarctation of the aorta and/or complications resulting from it? Have you or your loved one done this already and been turned down by the Social Security Administration?

If you or your loved one intends to appeal the denial by the Social Security Administration, here is something to think about. People who have a disability attorney like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who are not represented by a disability lawyer.

Your heart is at the center of your cardiovascular system. Your heart is the organ that pumps blood to all of the cells in your body through your body’s blood vessels. Your blood has oxygen that your cells have to have.

Cardiomyopathy literally means “heart muscle disease”. It refers to the deterioration of the working of your myocardium (heart muscle).  This medical condition hinders your heart’s ability to pump blood.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form of this disease. It is when your heart’s main pumping chamber becomes dilated (enlarged), and its pumping ability becomes impaired.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a form of cardiomyopathy where your heart muscle (myocardium) becomes hypertrophied or abnormally thick. The result is that your heart may have a harder time pumping blood. This disease can also affect the electrical system of your heart.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is known by other names. It is also referred to as idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy and asymmetric septal hypertrophy.

Fortunately, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is rare. It is not as common as dilated cardiomyopathy. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affects about 1 in 500 people in the United States.

People of all ages can have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, younger people are more prone to have a serious form of this disease. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affects men and women equally.

Genetic mutations are what often cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Doctors believe these genetic mutations cause your heart muscle to become abnormally thick. Another factor that may play a role in the development of this disease is an abnormal arrangement of your heart’s muscle fibers. This can play a part in causing an irregular heartbeat.

There are some signs and symptoms that may be an indication of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Some of these are:

• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Shortness of breath
• Shortness of breath while lying down
• Chest pain
• Reduced activity tolerance (fatigue)
• Dizziness
• Light-headedness that happens especially after exercise or activity
• Palpitations (a sense of fluttering, pounding or rapid heartbeats)
• Fainting that especially occurs during activity or exercise.

You or a loved one may have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This disease and/or complications resulting from it may be causing you or your loved one’s disability. It may be why you or your loved one cannot work and need financial assistance?

You or your loved one may intend to apply for the financial help that you need from the Social Security Administration by applying for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits because of the disability caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and/or complications resulting from this disease. You may have already done this and been turned down.

If you or your loved one plans on appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration, consider this. People with a disability lawyer like the one you will find at Social Security Home are approved more often than people who are not represented by a disability attorney.

Ludwig’s angina is also known as angina ludovici. This infection is named after the German physician, Wilhelm Frederick von Ludwig who first described this condition in 1836.

Ludwig’s angina should not be confused with angina pectoris that is commonly referred to as “angina”. “Angina” is a word that comes from the Greek word ankhon, meaning, “strangling”.

Ludwig’s angina refers to the feeling of strangling, not the feeling of chest pain. However, it is possible for chest pain to occur in Ludwig’s angina if the infection spreads into your retrosternal space.

Ludwig’s angina is usually caused by a bacterial infection, like streptococci or staphylococci. There are also other bacteria that can cause this infection.

Ludwig’s angina seems to occur more frequently in people with a condition of lowered immunity, but it can take place in healthy individuals also. With the coming of antibiotics, Ludwig’s angina has become a rare disease.

There are several ways that you may be affected by Ludwig’s angina. Some of these are:

• Pain, swelling and raising of your tongue
• Swelling of the tissues of your submandibular and sublingual spaces
• Swelling of your neck
• Malaise (general feeling of sickness or weakness)
• Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
• Fever
• In severe cases, difficulty in breathing.

Important effects to look for with Ludwig’s angina include when you are not being able to swallow your own saliva and the presence of audible difficulty in breathing.

Ludwig’s angina is not normally a condition that will disable you and cause you to be unable to work. However, if you have other conditions along with Ludwig’s angina or you have complications that have resulted from it; you may be disabled.

If this is the case for you or a loved one, you may need help. You may need financial help.

Who will be able to give you the financial assistance that you or your loved one needs? Where will that help come from?

Have you or your loved one applied for Social Security disability benefits or disability benefits from the Social Security Administration because of the disability caused by complications along with or resulting from Ludwig’s angina? Were you or your loved one denied?

You or your loved one may be thinking about appealing the denial by the Social Security Administration. If you do, here is something to remember. People who are represented by a disability attorney are approved more often than those people without a lawyer.

This is something that could affect you or your loved one for the rest of your life. Do not delay. Contact us today so we can help you find a disability lawyer near you.