heart murmur

[tradey]

my brother was at the doctors this morning,the doctor found he has a heart murmur please could anyone tell me what this means thankyou

[Octavius]

A heart murmur, is extremely common. In fact, many children are found to have a heart murmur at some point during their lives. Most murmurs are not a cause for concern and do not affect the child's health at all.

The word murmur describes a swishing sound made as the blood flows through any of the heart's four chambers or valves or even through a hole within the heart. The murmur will be graded 1-6 depending on loudness. The most common type of heart murmur is called functional or innocent. This means the murmur is produced by a normal, healthy heart. It can come and go throughout childhood and usually goes away on its own as the child gets older and doesn't pose any health threat. Some murmurs may indicate a problem with the heart. If the doctor suspects something other than an innocent heart murmur, the child will see a pediatric cardiologist, who may order or perform additional tests such as a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram, or an echocardiogram.

[tradey]

thankyou for you answer,my brother is 35 and has never been told before hes got this,id never heard of it before and was abit conserned.cheers x