Free Republic

The larger the sail, the more wind it catches. But as that size increases, so does the stress experienced by each sheet and line connected to the canvas. The same thing can be said for a heart with mitral valve prolapse (MVP); as the diseased valve enlarges, the cords connected to the heart tissue feel stress and respond accordingly with stiffness and scarring. As a common degenerative heart disease, MVP affects 2-3% of the U.S. population, or 1 in 40 people. It's characterized by enlarged heart tissue and billowing of the mitral valve into the left atrium, according to the...