Your heart is the most important organ in your body when it comes to all types of physical exercise. Without it beating up to 200 strokes a minute, your muscles' oxygen demands could not be met. The heart is a complex pump featuring four chambers and four valves, all of which are subject to pathology that can affect the completeness of openings and closings during and after exercise.
Mitral Valve Insufficiency
The mitral valve lies between the left atrium and the left ventricle. The left atrium serves as a primer pump for the left ventricle, which pumps newly oxygenated blood to the rest of the body via the aorta. When the mitral valve doesn't close all the way because its flaps can't seal the gap between the left atrium and the left ventricle, blood flows backward, or regurgitates, into the left atrium rather than exiting into the aorta. The result is shortness of breath, fatigue and light-headedness during exercise and at rest. A congenital mitral valve prolapse is the most common cause.
Aortic Valve Insufficiency
The aortic valve is one step "downstream" from the mitral valve. It prevents the back flow of blood from the aortic arch into the left ventricle following the contraction of the latter. Symptoms are similar to those of mitral valve insufficiency -- fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations and fainting. The cause is usually a congenital defect, but defective valve leaflets can also result from infections, such as rheumatic fever and bacterial endocarditis. Simple aging can sometimes cause this kind of valvular disorder as well.
Mitral Valve Stenosis
Whereas heart valve insufficiencies are marked by normal opening but incomplete closure of the affected valve, valvular stenosis involves both incomplete opening and delayed or incomplete closure. A stenosis is defined as a narrowing of a passage. Mitral stenosis may be congenital. It may also be the result of infectious disease, radiation or certain drugs. Symptoms include bloody cough, fatigue, difficulty breathing before or after exercise, palpitations and abnormally low blood pressure. As with other valvular derangements, treatment options include medications and surgery.
Aortic Valve Stenosis
Aortic stenosis causes symptoms similar to mitral stenosis but can often be more severe because of the vital role in sending oxygenated blood to the body. A narrowed aortic valve puts extra strain on the mitral valve "upstream," sometimes leading to a secondary mitral-valve problem. Shortness of breath in this disorder can result from blood backing up into the lungs from the heart through the pulmonary veins. In adults, rheumatic fever is the most common cause. Because this disease is no longer common, aortic stenosis is comparatively rare.
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