• Question: hi i was born with a hole in my hart how does this affect me and how was i born with it

    Asked by to Andrew, Elaine, Emma, Michael, Nancy on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Nancy Carlisle

      Nancy Carlisle answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hi, sorry I don’t know the answer to this one! When I used to study Zoology, we learned about how many stages of growth from the moment an egg is fertilized by a sperm. I was amazed by the number of different steps, and how there are genes that turn on and off to make development happen in a specific order. You should ask your gp if they can tell you more about the hole in your heart!

    • Photo: Emma Reid

      Emma Reid answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hi there!
      Although my research doesn’t involve the heart, this is a topic I know a wee bit about from when I was a student at uni. There are 4 chambers in the heart, two small ones called atria and two larger ones called ventricles, with a wall of heart muscle to separate them. Babies can be born with a hole between the atria or a hole between the ventricles. If the hole is small then usually it will close up on it’s own but sometimes surgery is needed to block up the hole. This is a very common operation and works really well. Most of the time we don’t know why babies are born with this. Hope this helps to answer your question 🙂
      Emma

Comments