Innocent heart murmurs are common in children and are quite harmless but there are other types of heart murmurs that can be more serious.  In today's Health Matters, John Biffar finds out about the different kinds of heart murmurs that people can have and what doctors do to check them out.

Cardiologist Brian Hanlon explains "There are innocent murmurs in young people, there are flow murmurs.  There are innocent murmurs in pregnant women that are based on flow."

A heart murmur is an abnormal sound - such as whooshing or swishing - made by turbulent blood in or near the heart.  It can be present at birth or develop later in life.  Wendy Pombrio says that "I've had a heart murmur all my life."

Dr. Hanlon says that typically a simple stethoscope detects heart murmurs, and when doctors hear that sound they may determine more tests are necessary to be sure that beat is normal.  "If someone has a heart murmur, something abnormal on a physical exam, I think it is helpful to proceed with further testing and recommend an echocardiogram to actually evaluate what the murmur means and what is causing it."

Treatment for a heart murmur depends on the cause.  Innocent heart murmurs usually do not need to be treated.  If your heart murmur is caused by an underlying condition, such as high blood pressure then your doctor will probably treat that condition.  Dr. Hanlon also says "There also are abnormal valve problems that cause murmurs that need to be identified

Another cause for heart murmur is caused by the valve itself or other heart defects.  Medications or surgery may be needed.

In most cases, murmurs do not affect your overall health and the innocent heart murmurs that are found in children often disappear when they reach adulthood.