A heart murmur is, as the name suggests, a sound that occurs during a heartbeat, caused by rapid, turbulent blood flow ...

Flow murmurs: Exercise, pregnancy, and anemia can all cause a high blood flow, as can hyperthyroidism, fever, and rapid growth spurts. High blood flow could lead to an innocent murmur.

Murmurs are graded in intensity from Grade 1 to 6. The first four grades can only be heard with a stethoscope, but grades five and six can be felt by putting a hand on the chest over the heart.

Innocent heart murmurs are harmless “whooshing” sounds the heart makes. They can be triggered by factors like exercise or a fever. They are usually benign and require no treatment.

There are less-common causes of heart murmurs. Infection can damage the valve, causing a murmur, and an enlarged heart can cause obstruction and a heart murmur. Still, ...

Murmurs are described by their timing in the cardiac cycle, intensity, shape, pitch, location, radiation and response to dynamic maneuvers. Using the above, ...

Although they sound scary, rest assured that heart murmurs are very common. Around 50 per cent of children have some kind of ...