Myocarditis
Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle cells. It may be a complication of infection with one of a number of viruses, including those that cause influenza. The main symptoms are tiredness and shortness of breath, and though the symptoms usually resolve over a period of time, if there has been severe damage to the heart muscle there may be complications including heart failure, arrhythmia, and sudden death.
Heart failure occurs when the ventricles can no longer pump sufficiently strongly to meet the demands placed upon them. This means that instead of the fluid being pumped from the right ventricle round the lungs and into the left ventricle, there is an increase in the pressure of the fluid on the right side of the heart. This produces congestion in the lungs, in the veins of the neck and in the ankles, which swell up. There are a number of different causes, (an arrhythmia or valve disease for example) but by far the most common is ischaemic heart disease. The symptoms are shortness of breath, particularly when laying flat, tiredness and weakness. There are effective treatments, usually aimed at reducing the load on the heart using diuretics, often in conjunction with other agents. Reducing the amount of salt in the diet also helps.
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