Right Ventricular Hypertrophy

[Ianstuart1964]

while having a ecg yesterday the ecg showed i have a Right Ventricular Hypertrophy. I spoke to my copd team, who informed me it is a heart condition normaly found in patients with severe emphysema.

Abyone able to help with info ?

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Av never heard of it b4 i assume the heart as to work harder to oxygenate our organs so assume would get bigger

Is that a good thing ad say no as only have to ask old body buliders But can we do out about it

A dont think we can really its part of disease process our lung docs dont tell us about

[Dorris59]

My mom was in hospital last may and was found to have severe COPD and left and right heart failure. Her heart failure then was rated around 45-50% performance! which was very poor. With the right drugs and oxygen therapy for the COPD, and drugs for the heart failure her heart performance has improved significantly, so it's about getting your COPD under control. You might want to look at N-Acetylcysteine, a supplement that helps COPD and sulforaphane, which is an extract contained in Brocolli and cruciferous veg, but is depleted during the cooking process. Steaming in a bag for a max of 5 min's and cooking with mustard seed powder helps preserve sulforophane levels, but large amounts would need to be eaten to get the amounts required, however both NAC and sulforaphane can be bought as supplements. Sulforaphane has been shown to help stop the bacterial overload which is common in COPD and which leads to exacerbations. I have a nutribullet 900 which juices fruit and veg and you can mix greens such as kale, spinach, brocolli with fruit, as diet is believed to be linked to COPD. Show your G.P. the info on NAC and sulforaphane to ensure there are no contra-indications for any medications you might already be on, but improve your diet and use excersizes for the lungs. Some use PEP devices, such as the flutter device. There are two pages on this link. The second page looks more into NAC for COPD.

lef.org/Magazine/2010/5/N-A...

[Ianstuart1964 in reply to Dorris59]

That is very interesting Dorris, been thinking about taking more supplinents to see if that would help. hope your Mum is comfortable

[Dorris59 in reply to Ianstuart1964]

She's doing okay now, but was seriously ill at the time as both conditions were undiagnosed for some years. It all only came to light after a bad chest infection, which tipped her over the edge and into a severely hypoxic state and she ended up at A&E and then on HDU. If only we had known earlier then preventative steps could have been taken. We thought she had asthma and it turned out to be COPD, so preventative steps are the best course of action in the earlier stages. I definitely think the COPD had a big effect on her heart. She had been suffering from swollen legs, ankles and very distended stomach for quite a while, which is another symptom of left sided heart failure. In her case the left side is worse than the right, though both side were bad, but there has been some improvement. I will find a link for sulforaphane and post it on this thread as there is clinical evidence to back up the claims. I believe that CoQ10 helps the heart, but you might want to research. Hope the info helps you and best wishes.

[Dorris59 in reply to Dorris59]

nih.gov/researchmatters/apr...

Clinical trial for sulforaphane

[Dorris59 in reply to Dorris59]

Here is an article on CoQ10, also rule out obstructive sleep apnea as a contributory factor to right sided hypertrophy.

lef.org/Protocols/Heart-Cir...

[katieoxo60]

If you go to the British heart foundation site they have details of most heart conditions, you can join and get lots of advice. My chemist has the heart foundation magazines for free and there are lots of interesting articles in it which help you manage different illnesses related to the heart. Any illnesses that put strain on the heart can cause this. I expect there are others on the site who have a similar illness who may give you help later.

[Ianstuart1964 in reply to katieoxo60]

Thanks Katie BHF were very helpful

[katieoxo60 in reply to Ianstuart1964]

Your welcome, good result

[Ianstuart1964]

thank you for responses. I spoke to British Heart Foundation and they were very helpfull and as a result of there advice contacted hospital that did my pre op assessment and they are actually waiting for consultant to arrange heart scan. Right Venticular Hypertrophy is the strain your copd/emphysema puts on your heart and causes the muscles on right side of heart to thicken and stiffen therefore not being able to work properly. however it is normaly diagnosed in the severe stages of emphysema. considerimg mine is moderate. it is not a comdition i should be suffering at this stage.

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I have Pulmonary Hypertension which can bring on LVH/RVH? I also have Restrictive lung disease? Have you been tested for PH?