Innocent Heart Murmurs…
Innocent murmurs are heard when blood moves noisily through a normal heart. Sometimes these murmurs occur when:
• Blood is flowing faster than usual through the heart and blood vessels attached to the heart
• An increased amount of blood is flowing through the heart.

Illness or conditions that can cause blood to flow faster than usual through the heart include:
• Fever
• Anemia
• Too much thyroid hormone in the body (hyperthyroidism)

Many, if not most children, will have a heart murmur heard by their doctor at some time in their lives. After childhood, the most common cause of an increased amount of blood flowing through the heart is pregnancy. Most murmurs found in pregnant women are innocent. They are due to the extra blood that women’s bodies make while they are pregnant. Innocent murmurs are sometimes due to changes to the heart resulting from heart surgery or from ageing. The most common cause of abnormal murmurs is congenial heart defects. Congenital heart defects occur where the heart, heart valves, or blood vessels attached to the heart do not develop normally before a baby is born. Some babies are born with a combination of heart defects.

Common defects that cause murmurs include:
• Congenital septal defects, which are holes in the wall (septum) that separates the right and left sides of the heart. They account for more than half of abnormal murmurs in children.
• Congenital valve defects, which include narrow valves that do not allow enough blood to flow through them and leaking valves that do not close properly.

How Yoga can help children with a Heart Murmur…

Relaxing activities such as Yoga and meditation are beneficial to maintain low levels of stress. Inversions
should be avoided.