Congenital Heart Disease accounts for 30%

of deaths of Children under five all around the world

every week 42 babies are born with CHD.

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A wopping 80% of all cases of CHD

remain unsolved because Doctors have no idea

what causes this deadly disease.

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Our task is to find the cure for Congenital Heart Disease

it is greatly unknown and much development and research

is needed into it's cause and cure.

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Congenital Heart Disease

is often first detected when the doctor hears an abnormal heart

sound or heart murmur when listening to the heart.

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Depending on the type of murmur 

he or she may order further testing such as 

Echocardiogram, Cardiac catheterization 

Chest X-Ray, Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) 

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

or other diagnostic testing.

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The warning signs of congenital heart disease

in infants and children may include a heart murmur

or abnormal heart sound

cyanosis (a bluish tint to the skin, fingernails and/or lips)

fast breathing, poor feeding, poor weight gain

an inability to exercise and excessive sweating.

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Serious medical research into the heart’s engine-like performance

began around one hundred years ago

and building on the discoveries made 

researchers turned their attention to what by the 1950s 

had become the single biggest cause of death

in the western world – premature coronary artery disease.

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The main risk factors in our ‘heart attack epidemic’ in adults

were quickly found to be high fat diets 

smoking and high blood pressure.

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Armed with these insights governments around the world

have induced people to modify their lifestyles for the better

and the results are truly astounding.

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Since its peak in 1967 age-adjusted rates of mortality

from coronary artery disease have been cut by three quarters

and are still falling

we now know a lot about coronary artery disease 

but still have a lot to learn about the other significant

source of cardiac disease – the heart muscle itself.

 

If diseased heart muscle loses pumping power

the obvious cure is to return the power to normal

but it’s difficult to treat a disease

and muscle tissue that we don’t completely understand.

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At this stage we know so little about the effects

of experimental drugs let alone more radical solutions

like artificial hearts or heart transplants from animals

so many patients are still left with human heart transplant

as their only option however there are never enough donors

to meet the demand.

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The only long term solution is for medical research

to unlock the mysteries of heart muscle tissue

and heart muscle disease

so we can develop effective sustainable treatments.

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Please help us cure Congenital Heart Disease forever.

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The Shaun Miller Foundation

 

'We Help Mend Broken Heart's'

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