Prevention of congenital heart disease and genetic factors

  Congenital cardiovascular disease is the most common type of congenital malformation. In mild cases, it is asymptomatic and is detected during physical examination, while in severe cases, there may be dyspnea, cyanosis and syncope after activity, and in older children, there may be growth retardation. The presence or absence of symptoms and manifestations are also related to the type of disease and the presence of complications. According to the hemodynamics combined with pathophysiological changes, three categories can be developed: 1. no shunt category.  2. left-to-right shunt category.  3. Right-to-left shunt category.  Prevention 1. Although the cause of congenital heart disease is not very clear, in order to prevent the occurrence of congenital heart disease, attention should be paid to the mother’s health care during pregnancy, especially in early pregnancy, such as active prevention of rubella, influenza, mumps and other viral infections. Avoid exposure to radiation and some harmful substances. Use medications under the guidance of doctors and avoid taking drugs that have an impact on fetal development, such as anti-cancer drugs and methylglyoxal. Actively treat primary diseases, such as diabetes. Pay attention to reasonable diet and avoid nutritional deficiency. Prevent local mechanical compression around the fetus. In short, in order to prevent congenital heart disease, all factors related to the development should be avoided.  2, in early pregnancy (before 3 months) try not to sit too long in front of the computer microwave oven and other places with strong magnetic fields because at this time the fetus is still unstable and various organs are still forming stage is likely to cause the child congenital heart disease.  3, do not touch pets because the bacteria and microorganisms on pets may also cause congenital heart disease in children.  Genetics The incidence of congenital heart disease in children is about 4‰ to 8‰, which can be a common congenital disease. With the improvement of medical level, many children with congenital heart disease are living well after surgical treatment and have grown up to have a family. However, all people with congenital heart disease want to have a healthy child when they are parents themselves, and the best way to do this is to go to a hospital for premarital screening and genetic counseling before marriage.  Because congenital heart disease is a polygenic genetic disease, it is now recognized that congenital heart disease can be caused by environmental factors and genetic factors or both together, especially the latter is important, and about 90% of congenital heart disease is caused by the combination of genetic plus environmental interaction. Many people think that people with congenital heart disease are the same as normal people after surgery and there is no danger of having children, this view is very incomplete, they only pay attention to the tolerance of the heart and ignore the hereditary nature of the disease. Therefore, to fully understand the impact of congenital heart disease on marriage and childbirth, you can go to a designated premarital examination unit, or you can go to a cardiology specialist to have an examination, such as a color ultrasound of the heart, and listen to the doctor’s advice for genetic counseling according to the type of your heart disease.