What Do You Need to Know About Aortic Stenosis?

When your aortic valve is too narrow, it causes an obstruction of blood flow. This is known as aortic stenosis, a problematic condition for the wellbeing of men. Usually, your blood passes from the left ventricle of your heart (or the left lower chamber), going through your aortic valve and into your aorta, which is the main artery of your body. However, when this valve becomes stenosed, or narrowed, less blood is able to flow through it and so your heart has to go like the clappers in order to pump enough blood to the rest of your body.

So that’s aortic stenosis, but whose wellness does it threaten? The condition is more common in men and, though it can be present at birth, it is most likely to occur in the elderly. When young people from developed countries do develop aortic stenosis, more often than not this is caused by a congenital heart abnormality. Rheumatic fever used to be a common cause of aortic stenosis, but now, in older people, it’s commonly caused by a build-up of calcium deposits on your aortic valve.

If you have a mild case of aortic stenosis, you may not even notice any symptoms at all, or you may have one, mild symptom, such as tiredness. Other symptoms may include chest pain and/or breathlessness during exertion, palpitations, dizziness and fainting, especially during exertion, if the stenosis is greater. You may even develop heart failure, which causes other symptoms such as tiredness, breathlessness and fluid retention in your legs.

If you have a streptococcal infection, this can increase your risk of rheumatic fever which, in turn, can cause aortic stenosis. To prevent either of the latter conditions from developing, it’s important to treat streptococcal infections with antibiotics. If you do develop aortic stenosis, you may find that you are advised to take antibiotics before some invasive investigations (such as bladder cystoscopy) and surgical procedures. These may take place to reduce your risk of heart valve infection, which is known as endocarditis, to widen your valve or to replace it altogether. Aortic valve stenosis is the most common heart valve disorder in the UK that requires valve replacement.

What Do You Need to Know About Aortic Stenosis?

Categories: aortic, Aortic Stenosis, aortic valve, Causes, develop aortic, heart valve, rheumatic fever, stenosis, Symptoms, valve

What anticoagulants are used for

Anticoagulants medicines are used if your blood is clotting too quickly. When this happens, blood clots can form in the wrong places. These clots can break off and block a blood vessel, disrupting the flow of blood around your body.

This can lead to several serious medical conditions, including:

• strokes: when a blood clot restricts the flow of blood to your brain, causing brain cells to die and possibly resulting in permanent brain damage or death


• transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs): or “mini-strokes”, with symptoms similar to a stroke, but the effects usually only last 24 hours


• heart attacks: when a blood clot blocks part of your heart, starving it of oxygen and causing chest pain and sometimes death


• deep vein thrombosis (DVT): when a blood clot forms in one of the deep veins in your body, usually your legs, causing pain and swelling


• pulmonary embolism: when a blood clot blocks one of the blood vessels around the lungs, stopping the supply of blood to your lungs

If you are at risk of any of the above conditions, for example if you have had one before, you may be prescribed anticoagulant medicines to reduce your chance the condition reoccurring.

Aspirin and clopidogrel are anti-platelet medicines that also reduce the ability of the blood to clot. In some cases, one of the above conditions may be treated with aspirin or clopidogrel instead. The healthcare professionals treating you will explain to you which medication is most suitable.

Some other conditions make you more prone to developing blood clots. For example, atrial fibrillation, a heart condition that causes episodes of irregular and abnormally fast heart rates, can lead to blood clots forming in the heart. If you have atrial fibrillation, you may be prescribed anticoagulants to prevent blood clots forming.

After surgery

You may be prescribed an anticoagulant or an antiplatelet agent if you have recently undergone some kinds of surgery, for example aortic valve replacement. Your aortic valve is a valve in your heart that controls the flow of blood out to the rest of your body. This valve can become damaged as you age, and in some people it is replaced with a man-made valve.

Blood clots can form on the surface of the new valve, which could disrupt the flow of blood through your heart. Anticoagulant medicines can reduce the risk of this happening by making it harder for your blood to clot.

Some kinds of surgery have a long recovery period, which may mean you that you are immobile for a long period of time. Being immobile can increase your risk of developing DVT or pulmonary embolism. If you are at risk of either of these, you may be given a low dose of the anticoagulant medicine heparin, to prevent these conditions developing.

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What anticoagulants are used for

Categories: anticoagulant medicines, aortic valve, atrial fibrillation, blood clot, blood clots, clot blocks, clots forming, Pulmonary Embolism