Can a heart murmur lead to heart disease later on in life?
I am 28 years old, I smoke cigarettes I have asthma,and a heart murmur my father and his mom both have heart disease and diabetes (neither of them smoke but my dad was an alcoholic my entire life) I don’t drink, my mom is only 54 and has Osteoporosis from smoking. I know I am more likely to have these problems because they are genetic but will my heart murmur contribute to me getting heart disease? I plan to quit smoking because I have been a smoker for almost 15 years, I am just having a hard time quitting.
Plus what can I do to help me quit smoking? Patches and gum and hypnosis didn’t work for me and when I quit cold turkey I go bonkers. I mean like Looney toon bonkers.
Your heart murmur is separate and apart from what causes heart disease. The causes of heart disease include smoking, obesity, diabetes,hypertension etc. A heart murmur is an arrthymia, a non normal beating of the heart, the cause is a malfunction in the conductance of electrical impulses somewhere along the cardiac pathways.
You are at great risk for developing heart disease because, like you said, you are genetically predisposed to getting it. To quit smoking you can taper off, for instance, if you are a 2 pack a day smoker, cut down to 1 and 3/4 packs a day for a week, then 1 1/2 for a week and so forth. The actual physical addiction lasts only 3-5 days, after that it is the psychological addiction that you’ll have to overcome. Find replacement actions for your current smoking rituals, i.e. hold a pencil between your smoking fingers, chew gum, include relaxation techniques in your life. It isn’t easy, but you can do it.
I also had a heart murmur and a strong family history of heart disease and early deaths. I was a bad smoker too. After an Echo from the Cardio I learnt I had an aneurysm and a bad heart valve and I needed open heart surgery…even that didnt get me to quit smoking right away..After a few months the Doctors told me they would not operate if I did not quit smoking so that was what got me to quit. I did it cold turkey and it was hard for about 1 week but got easier every day. Its been almost 3 years now and I still sometimes feel like a smoke but I am so glad I quit and I will never smoke again. (I had my heart surgery nearly 3 years ago.)
Go see your doctor and get some professional support for this most important step towards a healthy you!