Teratogen is the medical term for any substance that causes abnormalities in a fetus. Teratogenic drugs can cause congenital heart disease, but in almost every situation where a pregnant woman would need to take a teratogenic drug, a safe,...
Flap-like structures called valves facilitate uni-directional blood flow. Your tricuspid valve occupies the space between the right atrium and the right ventricle. It prevents blood back flow as it circulates between these two structures. Mammals,...
The tricuspid valve sits between the right atrium and the right ventricle. Blood returning to the lungs for oxygenation must traverse the tricuspid valve on its way to the pulmonary artery. The right side of the heart is a low pressure system....
The term used to describe a racing heart is "heart palpitations." Your child might have palpitations for a number of reasons. Palpitations are actually common and in many cases are not dangerous, according to Cincinnati Children's Hospital....
Bipolar disorder, a disease characterized by mood swings and cyclic manic behavior, affects between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent of people in the United States, according to Dr. Kimberly Yonkers of Yale University of Connecticut and lead author of...
There are several conditions that may cause heart pain. According to the U.S. Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, any organ or tissue in the chest cavity can be a source of pain, including the nerves, tendons, ribs, muscles,...
Skin color results from the blood flow in the tiny vessels within the skin as well as the amount of pigment present in the dermal layers. Any number of normal conditions can alter the pigmentation of the skin, but only abnormal causes result in...
Lithium carbonate, the most commonly used medication for the treatment of bipolar disorder, is derived from the natural element lithium and is similar to sodium and potassium. It stabilizes the mood of manic individuals by slowing the uptake of...
There are numerous causes of an irregular heart rate, or arrhythmia. According to MedlinePlus, an arrhythmia is any disorder that involves heart rate or rhythm, and may involve a heart rate that's too fast or too slow, or a heart rate that has an...
