My heart will all of a sudden beat really  hard but slow then go back to normal. I was told as a teenager (now 23) that i have a murmer. My grandmother had to have surgery to put in a new valve in her heart; heart conditions run in my family. I just wonder if it is something i should be concerned about. I have been really stressed lately. The only thing is that is doesnt do it all the time just randomly. So if I go to the doctor are they going to find this? And am I over thinking it? I know the heart is nothing to take lightly, so should I ask my doc?
Hi, Thanks for writing in. You need to have an appointment with a cardiologist and explain your history in detail and get basic investigations like ECG and echocardiography done. Doctors use echocardiography to evaluate the seriousness of heart murmurs. Murmurs are extra sounds, heard by the doctor through the stethoscope, that are produced as blood flows through an opening changed by disease or birth defect. Echocardiography records these blood flow measurements and converts them into pressure gradients, the difference in pressure between one side of the opening (at a valve, for example) and the other side, thus telling the doctor how severe the damage is. With the help of this test, the physician can determine how leaky or narrowed the valve is and identify which patients might benefit from medicines or corrective surgery. So you need not get worried because medicines are there for minor heart problems and if necessary it can be cured by surgery. Hope this helps