As Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week comes to an end, specialists have been spreading awareness of the disease that affects more than one million Canadians.
What is heart valve disease?
Heart valve disease is common and serious but can also be treatable. It can happen in any of the heart’s four valves; however, certain types are more common than others.
If one or more of the heart’s valves aren’t opening or closing properly, this can mean you have heart disease.
“So, the heart is a muscle, it pumps the blood through the whole body. And what happens is, in order for that blood to go efficiently, there’s four valves that makes the blood move forward,” said cardiologist Dr. Osama Elkhateeb during an interview on CTV Morning Live Friday.
“And with different causes, one of the most common is as we get older, calcium builds up in …