What is the blow?
Bloating is not a disease. It is an audible signal, a sound, that is created when:
- a large amount of blood passes through healthy vessels or normal heart valves (i.e. the so-called hyperkinetic blood circulation occurs) or
- a normal amount of blood passes through a narrowed “passage” (eg, a narrowed vessel, a defective heart valve). In both cases the blood flow becomes turbulent. In other words, the smooth flow in the blood circulation is disturbed. As the blood swirls, vibrations are produced, which the doctor can hear with the stethoscope. The sound of these vibrations is similar to the noise we make when we blow, hence the term “blowing”.
The necessary tests
To diagnose the condition causing the murmur it is necessary to do:
- Obtaining the medical history and clinical examination by the doctor, so that considering all the evidence, he can diagnose the origin of the wheezing. The clinical examination must be done with the examinee at rest. There are not a few cases where anxious people, especially women, seem to have a wheeze because they are agitated. Due to stress, blood flow increases in the vessels and valves of the heart, so a murmur is heard, which in most cases is innocent.
- Ultrasound at the doctor’s discretion, in order to make sure if the murmur heard is innocent or pathological.
