Atrial Septum Defect
Question 1
The health problem that I have is the presence of a hole in my heart. Medical practitioners call this health condition Atrial Septal defect (Jensen, Wang & Moorman, 2019). An atrial septal defect is a heart condition where there is a hole present in the heart’s septum. The septum is the wall in the heart that separates the atria chambers of the heart.
Question 2
I think the Atrial Septum defect in my heart is a health defect that I was born with; therefore, the atrial septum defect is a result of a natural cause. Atrial septum defect develops in a baby before birth, where the heart’s opening fails to close. The heart’s openings in a normal baby should close some days before birth or immediately after a child is born.
Question 4
Atrial septum defect has severe effects on the normal functioning of the heart. The hole in the septum wall increases the amount of blood flowing to the lungs. In the process, the excess blood flowing to the lungs affects the lungs’ blood vessels (Jensen, Wang & Moorman, 2019). Once the excess blood has damaged the blood vessels, chronic illnesses appear later in life, and these chronic illnesses are high blood pressure and heart failure.
Question 6
Atrial septum defect has severe effects on my health condition and what I fear most about atrial septum defect is that it can result in my heart failing. Another fear concerning the atrial septum defect is that I may not survive the heart surgery. It is hard to survive a heart surgery due to the health side effects that result from a surgery, such as excessive bleeding.
Question 7
The chief personal problem that the atrial septum has created is the fear that I won’t live for long since the defect my become more severe. The atrial septum defect has also created fear among my family members since they are worried about the medical bill if I go for heart surgery.
Question 8
The treatments that I can receive to address the atrial septum defect depend on my age. At this age, one intervention treatment medical practitioners can offer me is heart surgery. Other medication treatments that I can receive are meant to address the symptoms of atrial septum defect.
References
Jensen, B., Wang, T., & Moorman, A. F. (2019). Evolution and development of the atrial septum. The Anatomical Record, 302(1), 32-48.
