Did you know that your heart pumps about 1.5 million gallons of blood during your lifetime? That’s a lot of work for an organ that is no larger than your fist.
Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, recently received this question from a viewer:
Q: My dad's doctor told him that he has an enlarged heart at his last appointment. What does that mean?
The answer: It’s known as cardiomegaly, and it’s often a sign of an underlying problem.
“An enlarged heart is a general term that refers to the pumping chamber of your heart,” said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health. “There are several conditions that can cause an enlarged heart and those include untreated high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.”
Some people with an enlarged heart will not have any symptoms. But others may experience:
