To begin with, the female heart is somewhat smaller than a man’s, about two-thirds the size. Its physiology is different, too. At puberty, the rate of repolarization or QT interval becomes longer in females and shorter in males (after age 60 those differences largely disappear).

The Basics: Overview

1. Eat healthy.
2. Get active.
3. Stay at a healthy weight.
4. Quit smoking and stay away from secondhand smoke.
5. Control your cholesterol and blood pressure.
6. Drink alcohol only in moderation.
7. Manage stress.

It’s a symptom of a heart defect or condition that makes the heart work harder, such as cardiomyopathy, heart valve problems, or high blood pressure. An enlarged heart can’t pump blood as efficiently as a heart that’s not enlarged. This can lead to complications like stroke and heart failure.

Symptoms of an enlarged heart

• breathing problems.
• shortness of breath.
• dizziness.
• irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia)
• heart palpitations.
• fluid retention.

Most with severe heart disease die within a few years. The treatment for an enlarged heart also depends to some extent on its cause.

Depending on the condition, an enlarged heart may be temporary or permanent. An enlarged heart may be treatable by correcting the cause. Treatment for an enlarged heart can include medications, medical procedures or surgery.

Exercise may reduce more than your waist size. It also may help shrink a thickened and enlarged heart. Regular exercise can be at least as beneficial as blood pressure medication when treating an enlarged heart.

Lifestyle and home remedies

1. Quit smoking.
2. Lose excess weight.
3. Limit salt in your diet.
4. Control diabetes.
5. Monitor your blood pressure.
6. Get modest exercise, after discussing with your doctor the most appropriate program of physical activity.
7. Avoid or stop using alcohol and caffeine.
8. Try to sleep eight hours nightly.

An enlarged heart can signal a serious heart problem or other health problem. It often means your heart has to work harder than normal to pump blood. One type of heart disease that can cause an enlarged heart is cardiomyopathy.

Biatrial enlargement can present as massive cardiomegaly on a chest radiograph. Common causes of biatrial enlargement include restrictive cardiomyopathy, rheumatic heart disease and constrictive pericarditis. Two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography helps in delineating the definitive diagnosis.

An ECG (electrocardiogram) records the electrical activity of your heart at rest. It provides information about your heart rate and rhythm, and shows if there is enlargement of the heart due to high blood pressure (hypertension) or evidence of a previous heart attack (myocardial infarction).

Right ventricular hypertrophy (also called right ventricular enlargement) happens when the muscle on the right side of your heart becomes thickened and enlarged. When your heart gets larger, it’s more prone to wear out.

The left ventricle of your heart is larger and thicker than the right ventricle. This is because it has to pump the blood further around the body, and against higher pressure, compared with the right ventricle.

The left ventricle is the strongest because it has to pump blood out to the entire body. When your heart functions normally, all four chambers work together in a continuous and coordinated effort to keep oxygen-rich blood circulating throughout your body.

It includes emphysema, pulmonary embolism, and other causes of pulmonary hypertension. High blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries increases the workload of the right ventricle. Over time, this causes the right ventricle to fail. This is blockage of the arteries that supply blood to your heart.

In cases refractory to medical therapy, timely deployment of mechanical circulatory support may offer a bridge to recovery or to the definitive management of the underlying cause. Percutaneous support options include extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which offers right- and left-sided circulatory support.

The right side of the heart usually becomes weaker in response to failure on the left side. The right side of the heart brings in the circulated blood from the body and sends it to the lungs for oxygen. When the left side of the heart weakens, the right side of the heart has to work harder to compensate.

Cough. One of the most common heart failure symptoms, persistent cough or wheezing, occurs due to fluid accumulation in the lungs. Sometimes the cough may produce bloody phlegm. If you have a chronic or worsening cough or wheezing that makes it hard to breathe or affects your daily life, see your doctor.