Congenital Heart Disease Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Congenital Heart Disease - Essay Example These are: congenital heart disease in the babys mother or father; congenital heart disease in the babys brother or sister; diabetes in the mother; German measles, toxoplasmosis (an infection that is passed through contact with cat feces), or HIV infection in the mother; the mothers use of alcohol during pregnancy; the mothers use of cocaine or other drugs during pregnancy; and the mothers use of certain over-the-counter and prescription medicines during pregnancy. It should be noted though, that the presence of any one or more of these factors will not absolutely result to the disease. Likewise, the absence of these factors does not assure a pregnant woman that her baby will be safe from any congenital heart disorders, which might be an important point to consider when a woman is pregnant. All safety measures should be observed all throughout the pregnancy as there is no single identifiable factor in contracting life-threatening diseases such as this. This also leads us to the impor tance of having a thorough knowledge of the subject, for one can never be too sure if one of the members of the family will suffer from such disease. Knowledge on the disease might just be the best way to go about the situation when prevention is not so possible. The heart is a muscular organ about the size of the fist. It has two sides, separated by a wall-like structure called a septum. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs where it is oxygenated. The oxygenated blood then goes from the lungs to the left side of the heart, and is pumped out to the rest of the body. The heart is made up of four chambers: the right and left ventricles and the left and right atria. The atria, which are located at the upper portion of the heart, receive the blood coming into the heart, while the ventricles which are located at the lower part of the heart, pump blood out of the heart and into the lungs and the other parts of the