Bacterial Endocarditis and How It Can Be Prevented
Bacterial endocarditis is the name given to the condition wherein an infection on the inner lining of the heart is apparent. This disease may also affect the heart valves, causing major damages in it, destroying it even. Bacterial endocarditis occurs when bacteria propagate on the bloodstream. And these bacteria usually lodge on the heart’s valves, especially when some of its tissues are damaged.
In truth, bacteria are almost always a part of a person’s body. They can be found in the mouth and certain parts of the respiratory system. They are also present in the intestines and the urinary tract. And some types of bacteria normally live on human skin.
There are also instances when certain dental procedures introduce bacteria to the body. This is the reason why people with heart problems are supposed to tell their condition to the dentist before any dental processes are performed.
Developing bacterial endocarditis is rare if what you have is a rather normal heart. But once heart problems or some other diseases develop for an entirely different reason, the risk of having bacterial endocarditis becomes higher.
Two examples of the conditions that could give rise to bacterial endocarditis are congenital heart disease and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Usually, doctors attend to the treatment of these diseases first. And with them fully treated, the risk of bacterial endocarditis is drastically lowered.
And as for the invasive procedures that may promote endocarditis, the list would include prophylaxis, tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, gallbladder surgery, and prostate surgery. To prevent bacterial endocarditis, antibiotics are first administered before patients undergo the procedures stated here. These antibiotics are supposed to eradicate the bacteria so that they won’t pass through the bloodstream.
The common symptoms of bacterial endocarditis are fever, flu, and chills. Patients might also observe that they are slowly losing weight and they feel weak because of it. Usually, doctors determine this disease when they hear an abnormal sound in the patient’s heart through their stethoscope. These sounds are called heart murmurs. And to generate a more accurate diagnosis, echocardiography, or the heart’s ultrasound is performed. Blood tests may also be requested so as to check if bacteria are already rampant in the blood.
And if bacterial endocarditis is indeed diagnosed, the usual drugs prescribed by doctors are antibiotics. A certain dosage of these antibiotics has to be regularly maintained in the body to prevent bacteria from surviving in the bloodstream. These antibiotics can also be given intravenously, usually when the patient is confined in a hospital. And for the more advanced cases of this disease, surgery is required.
Proper medical attention should be given to patients with bacterial endocarditis. And that’s mainly because this condition may lead to death, if not treated early on. Patients with this disease have hearts that cannot pump blood to the rest of the body like it does before. This becomes the start of a heart failure. And along with that, the heartbeat and rhythm are both going to be irregular. The heart muscle may also be damaged over time. Blood clots are common and we all know that those are the main causes of stroke.
It is a fact that everybody may develop bacterial endocarditis. Doing the necessary precautions before undergoing surgery and dental procedures is not enough to be totally safe from this disease. In reality, doctors cannot predict when bacteria could have entered the blood stream.
Besides, the taking of antibiotics is only required of people who have pre-existing heart conditions. Otherwise, normal procedures are performed. With these said, proper caring of one’s health is always mandatory, whether or not any disease exists in the body.
