Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week

Stay tuned for our 2024 campaign!

September 16 – 22, 2024

2023 Heart Valve Disease Awareness Week

September 11 – 17, 2023

In life, there are many important events. None more important than a regular stethoscope check, as it’s the first step in detecting Heart Valve Disease.

Symptoms can include breathlessness, dizziness and fatigue but sometimes there can be no symptoms at all. Heart valve disease is common, serious, but treatable. Ask your doctor for a stethoscope check regularly and keep making the most of every day – this simple check can save your life.

Follow the campaign using #ListenToYourHeart #ValveWeek23

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Why creating awareness about Heart Valve Disease is so important

Heart valve disease has been described as ‘the next cardiac epidemic’. This Awareness Week is important, not only to raise awareness of the disease but also to make the population more aware of the symptoms so that they can seek the help they need at the right time. It is also important that clinicians provide their patients, especially those who are over the age of 65, with regular stethoscope exams as these are the key to detecting heart valve disease.

One out of eight people over the age of 75 suffers from moderate to severe heart valve disease, which involves damage to one or more of the heart’s valves. It is estimated that the number of people living with heart valve disease will double by 2040 and triple by 2060.

Heart Valve Disease prevalence is rising rapidly due to the ageing of the population. People are living longer and older people are crucial contributors to society and the economy. Untreated valve disease is a barrier to active ageing but conversely, early detection and timely treatment will increase longevity and quality of life.

Often heart valve disease patients are diagnosed only when they see a healthcare professional for a regular check-up or for some other issue. The seriousness of heart valve disease, combined with the fact that the symptoms are often difficult to detect or dismissed as a normal part of ageing, can often result in troublesome or dangerous consequences.

One out of eight people over the age of 75 suffers from moderate to severe heart valve disease, which involves damage to one or more of the heart’s valves. It is estimated that the number of people living with heart valve disease will double by 2040 and triple by 2060.

Heart Valve Disease prevalence is rising rapidly due to the ageing of the population. People are living longer and older people are crucial contributors to society and the economy. Untreated valve disease is a barrier to active ageing but conversely, early detection and timely treatment will increase longevity and quality of life.

Often heart valve disease patients are diagnosed only when they see a healthcare professional for a regular check-up or for some other issue. The seriousness of heart valve disease, combined with the fact that the symptoms are often difficult to detect or dismissed as a normal part of ageing, can often result in troublesome or dangerous consequences.

Watch the videos below to hear from people living with heart valve disease

What is Heart Valve Disease?

Heart valve disease is a common, serious, but treatable condition which is particularly associated with ageing. It is the name given to any malfunction or abnormality of one or more of the heart’s four valves, affecting the flow of blood through the heart.

What is regurgitation?
Regurgitation is when a valve does not fully close and allows blood to leak backwards. It is also commonly referred to as valve insufficiency, or a leaky valve. This condition includes mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation.

What is stenosis?
Stenosis is when a valve does not fully open to allow enough blood to flow through. This can be due to age-related calcification of the valve. A calcified valve can become very narrow or blocked and therefore limits the amount of blood that flows through. It is also commonly called a sticky, narrowed, or stiff valve.

Know the Symptoms of Heart Valve Disease

Symptoms can include:

  • chest tightness/pain
  • shortness of breath
  • fatigue
  • irregular heartbeats
  • fainting
  • reduced physical activity

However, some heart valve disease patients do not show symptoms or have no symptoms for many years, even if their disease is severe, all of which can make diagnosis difficult.

Quiz: How much do you know about Heart Valve Disease?

Test your knowledge and discover new things!

1. How many times a day does the average adult human heart beat?

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Correct answer!

Your heart is an amazing organ. Each day, the average human heart beats about 100,000 times, pumping 2,000 gallons of blood throughout the body to sustain life. That’s a lot of work for an organ about the same size as two clenched fists and weighing 8 to 12 ounces! The heart does more physical work than any other muscle over a lifetime.

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Wrong answer. Try again!

2. How many valves does the heart have?

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Correct answer!

On the inside, the heart is a hollow organ and has four chambers made of muscle and powered by electrical impulses. Your heart valves are like doors between your heart chambers. They open and close to allow blood to flow through. The heart has four valves: the tricuspid and the mitral open between your upper and lower heart chambers and the aortic and pulmonary open when blood flows out of your ventricles (the lower chambers).

3. What is the function of the valves in our hearts?

Correct answer!

On the inside, the heart is a hollow organ and has four chambers. We can compare the parts of the heart to a house, as it has walls, rooms (chambers) and doors (valves). The heart valves are like doors between our heart chambers. They open and close to allow blood to flow through. Heart valves open one way to prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction.

4. What is heart valve disease?

Correct answer!

You know already about heart attacks and strokes, but do you know what Heart Valve Disease is? Heart valve disease is common, serious but treatable. It refers to any of several conditions that prevent one or more of the valves in your heart from working right. Our hearts can’t function normally if the heart valves aren’t working properly, as it can affect the flow of blood through the heart.

Healthy heart valve leaflets or cusps can fully open and close the valve during the heartbeat to keep blood flowing in the right direction, but diseased valves might not fully open and close. This means the heart can’t effectively pump blood throughout the body and must work harder to pump, either while the blood is leaking back into the chamber or against a narrowed opening. This can lead to heart failure or even death.

5. What are some common causes of Heart Valve Disease?

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Correct answer!

Heart valve disease is common, serious but treatable. Common heart valve disease causes include:

  • Rheumatic fever from strep throat that wasn’t treated, especially among people born before 1943 (modern use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections has greatly reduced this problem). Heart valve disease can show up years or decades after the infection.
  • A congenital problem that’s been present since birth, such as a pulmonary or aortic valve that didn’t develop right.
  • Degeneration or calcification of the valve tissue, with loss of function over time (as a result of the natural process of ageing).

Some types of heart valve disease can’t always be prevented because they can be caused by the natural process of ageing or congenital heart defects. Unfortunately, many people don’t know they have it until the condition either causes symptoms or a screening or diagnostic test finds it. That’s why it’s important that your doctor listens to your heart with a stethoscope regularly, especially if you are over 65 years old, to check for signs of heart valve disease, such as a heart murmur, which could mean blood is moving through a stenotic or leaky valve.

6. What are some common symptoms of Heart Valve Disease?

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Correct answer!

Many people with heart valve disease don’t present any symptoms, but when the heart valve problem worsens, the heart beats harder to make up for the reduced blood flow. Over time, heart valve disease may get bad enough that symptoms begin to appear. Some common symptoms include:

  • Breathlessness, especially when lying,
  • Dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting
  • Fatigue, especially when it disrupts your normal activities or happens during activities that didn’t tire you out before.

7. What is the first step in diagnosing heart valve disease?

Correct answer!

When your doctor does a physical examination and listens to your heart with a stethoscope, they may find signs of heart valve disease, such as a heart murmur, which could mean blood is moving through a stenotic or leaky valve. That’s why it’s important that your doctor listens to your heart with a stethoscope regularly.

#ListenToYourHeart Ask your doctor for a regular stethoscope check. This simple check can save your life.

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8. What is valve ‘regurgitation’?

Correct answer!

Regurgitation happens when a valve doesn’t close completely, allowing blood to leak backward (in the wrong direction). This is also called valvular insufficiency, incompetence or ‘leaky valve’. Diseased valves can become “leaky” when they don’t completely close, causing blood to leak back into the chamber that it came from, which is referred to as “regurgitant flow.” The heart must pump harder to make up for this backward flow, and the rest of the body may get less blood flow. This commonly occurs due to valve leaflets extending back (in the wrong direction), a condition called prolapse.

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9. What is valve ‘stenosis’?

Correct answer!

Stenosis happens when the valve opening narrows, and blood cannot flow normally. This happens when the valve leaflets become thick or stiff and possibly fuse together, narrowing and stiffening the valve opening and reducing the amount of blood that can flow through it. The valve can become so narrow (stenotic) that it reduces your heart’s function, makes your heart pump harder and puts it under strain. As a result, the rest of your body may not get enough blood flow.

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10. Which of the following are the more common forms of Heart Valve Disease?

Correct answer!

Any valve in the heart can become diseased or sometimes the valve may be missing a leaflet. The mitral and aortic valves are most often affected by heart valve disease. Two of the more common heart valve diseases are mitral regurgitation (MR), which happens when the mitral valve doesn’t close completely, allowing blood to leak backward (in the wrong direction) across the valve, and aortic stenosis (AS), which occurs when the aortic valve opening narrows, and blood cannot flow normally.

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Congratulations on completing the quiz!

Remember to #ListenToYourHeart regularly. Ask your doctor for a regular stethoscope check this simple check can save your life.
Heart valve disease is common, serious but treatable.

  • What is HVD - Poster
  • What is HVD - Poster

Get Involved

To join the campaign or for more information, please email info@globalhearthub.org.

Campaign Partners

Global Heart Hub Heart Valve Disease Patient Council

The awareness week is led by the Heart Valve Disease Patient Council of the Global Heart Hub which includes:

Supported by:

Edwards