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page: Search posts:  Leaky Heart Valves are Common, Usually
Harmless  Posted Aug 26 2008 4:03pm  One in ten Americans
suffers from mitral valve prolapse and the vast majority have no
symptoms and will never know that they have it. Valves are
located in your heart to keep blood from backing up.  With
aging, some of these valves can stretch and to close completely,
so they allow a small amount of blood to leak backwards. This is
usually harmless, but can be associated with an irregular heart
beat or chest pain caused by a stretching of the muscles that
hold the valves in place. Patients with mitral valve prolapse
usually do not seek out medical help unless a doctor hears a
murmur or click in the heart (85 percent), the patient suffers
from chest pain (31 percent) or palpitations (40 percent),
suddenly passes out (40 percent), feels excessively tired (22
percent) or is short of breath (10.5 percent). Mitral valve
prolapse is hereditary for one patient i