Enlarged heart? UPDATE

weflyhigh

Senior member
Jan 1, 2007
971
1
81
Anyone know anything about enlarged hearts? Apparently my heart is bigger than it should be or something along those lines. I have an appointment with a cardiologist on Thursday, but just wondering if anyone has any experience.

I am thinking (hoping) it is just "athlete's heart". Anyone have that? I exercise 3-5 times/week and try to run 6-12 miles/week (at maximum speed). I read that athlete's heart as no side-effects and is perfectly OK.
Anyone ever get diagnosed with athlete's heart but then later find out the enlargement was from something else more serious?
 

Colt45

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
19,720
1
0
My buddy had (has, i suppose) a monster sized one. He used to use it as a pickup line.
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
I hope it's nothing. Good luck at your appointment. I'd say more, but I don't have much info for you.
 

Crow550

Platinum Member
Oct 4, 2005
2,381
5
81
One of my Uncles had that.......He died of a heart attack.


I hope it all goes well. Kinda freaky.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,695
31,043
146
cardiac hypertrophy (of several types) is surprisingly common. "athlete's heart" is a bit euphemistic, but is not an inaccurate description.

it can be completely innocuous, going undiagnosed during a 65-80 year life-span of huffing steamers and soft drinks, or it could trigger an infarction on the b-ball court during a routine after-work pick up game at the age of 37. no warning, perfectly healthy human specimen.

life is funny that way.



GL, OP.
 

Azraele

Elite Member
Nov 5, 2000
16,524
29
91
My mom died from cardiomyopathy. They think her enlarged heart was caused by a viral infection.

"Cardiomyopathy is a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and doesn't work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes including viral infections...What is dilated (congestive) cardiomyopathy?

This is the most common form. In it, the heart cavity is enlarged and stretched (cardiac dilation). The heart is weak and doesn't pump normally, and most patients develop heart failure. Abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias and disturbances in the heart's electrical conduction also may occur."

Hope yours is nothing major. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll be more than happy to share what I know.
 

zCypher

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2002
6,115
171
116
I have a grandmother who has an enlarged heart, and she just turned 84.
 

weflyhigh

Senior member
Jan 1, 2007
971
1
81
I called yesterday to confirm the appointment for Thursday and asked if they could possibly schedule me in before then (in case I needed a follow up, I could get it in before I return from break). They said they would get back to me. They did and I got it rescheduled for this morning at 8am.

I went there and the doctor asked me questions and listened to my heart and basically said I was fine. She analyzed the printed-out heart chart thing, too. They then redid the echocardiograph (by a doctor this time).
He found nothing wrong with my heart and then they did a bubble test and that also went well (no leakage there).

So, basically my heart is a normal size/maybe slightly bigger than normal due to exercise. The reason it looked bigger before was possibly because my chest cavity is small/no fat in the way, so the images were clear and looked bigger?
Also, doctor/echo-man heard no murmur (apparently some doctor put murmur down years ago). Yay.

Glad that's over with! Got scared as hell for a bit.
 

SunSamurai

Diamond Member
Jan 16, 2005
3,914
0
0
cardiac hypertrophy (of several types) is surprisingly common. "athlete's heart" is a bit euphemistic, but is not an inaccurate description.

it can be completely innocuous, going undiagnosed during a 65-80 year life-span of huffing steamers and soft drinks, or it could trigger an infarction on the b-ball court during a routine after-work pick up game at the age of 37. no warning, perfectly healthy human specimen.

life is funny that way.



GL, OP.


No, they were obviously doing cocaine.

:rolleyes:
 

SunSamurai

Diamond Member
Jan 16, 2005
3,914
0
0
I called yesterday to confirm the appointment for Thursday and asked if they could possibly schedule me in before then (in case I needed a follow up, I could get it in before I return from break). They said they would get back to me. They did and I got it rescheduled for this morning at 8am.

I went there and the doctor asked me questions and listened to my heart and basically said I was fine. She analyzed the printed-out heart chart thing, too. They then redid the echocardiograph (by a doctor this time).
He found nothing wrong with my heart and then they did a bubble test and that also went well (no leakage there).

So, basically my heart is a normal size/maybe slightly bigger than normal due to exercise. The reason it looked bigger before was possibly because my chest cavity is small/no fat in the way, so the images were clear and looked bigger?
Also, doctor/echo-man heard no murmur (apparently some doctor put murmur down years ago). Yay.

Glad that's over with! Got scared as hell for a bit.


Good to hear its not what you thought. My mother has it and you get out of breath very easily. I would suggest toning your exercise down a bit as you might be prone to it if you keep working it too hard and too often.
 

x-alki

Golden Member
Jun 2, 2007
1,353
1
81
Bubble test. We are going to inject some air into your veins, hopefully it wont kill you.

Glad everything is OK.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,894
14,296
146
After your moronic post about the movie Avatar, I was hoping that this would be serious enough to keep you from ever entering military service...(although perhaps not life-threatening)
 

krylon

Diamond Member
Nov 17, 2001
3,927
4
81
After your moronic post about the movie Avatar, I was hoping that this would be serious enough to keep you from ever entering military service...(although perhaps not life-threatening)

call out ban?
 

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81
Always good to know. I went through the 100k test last year with the cardiologist. Ended up being trapped gas causing palps. I'm so tense I can't burp.

Weird stuff starts happening when you get older. Sucks.
 

shocksyde

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2001
5,539
0
0
After your moronic post about the movie Avatar, I was hoping that this would be serious enough to keep you from ever entering military service...(although perhaps not life-threatening)

Uhhhhhhhhh...
 

manlymatt83

Lifer
Oct 14, 2005
10,051
44
91
I had left ventricular hypertrophy (it was diagnosed by really high voltage on an EKG plus an ultrasound of the heart). A year later it was gone. At the time of diagnosis, I was working out hard, but also had high blood pressure. My doctor made it a point that no matter what the cause, it can regress (and often does) if you take care of yourself. I'm not sure which cause it was, because I stopped working out as hard and also got rid of the high blood pressure, and it went away.... not to say you should stop working out as hard, but if you don't have hypertension, it's probably athletes heart. Just my guess.
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
everyone should go on a low salt diet to avoid unnecessary heart problems later in life
 

RESmonkey

Diamond Member
May 6, 2007
4,818
2
0
I highly disagree with the external hard drives being included in that list. Why trust some online backup source over something you can keep physically with you? Sounds stupid.
 

StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,956
1,268
126
Good to hear. I have an irregular heart beat and it pisses me off. Caffeine sets it off so I should cut back but I lack willpower.