What Is a Heart Murmur? Make an Appointment Ask a Question Search Conditions Find out what it is and what you need to know from National Jewish Health Cardiologist, Andrew Freeman, MD. Related Videos 3 Keys to a Healthy Heart Heart Attack Symptoms in Women What is Chest Pain? 4 Ways to Prevent Heart Disease What Causes a Heart Attack? Symptoms of a Weak Heart Breath Test or Heart Rate? Angina = Heart Attack How to Prevent a Heart Attack when Shoveling Snow How to Lower Blood Pressure with Simple Changes Ask a National Jewish Health Cardiologist if You Should Exercise in Bad Weather Intensive Cardiac Rehab Has Amazing Outcomes Does Cold Weather Exercising Burn More Calories? 4 Simple Ways to Be the Healthiest You How to Eat Healthy During the Holidays Lifestyle Medicine: Improve Health, Food, Sleep, Exercise & Stress Management What Has Love Got to Do with Your Health? Walking Is Nature’s Best Medicine Walk With A Doc Transforms Lives Why Do We Connect Love With The Heart? Truth: You Can Reverse Heart Disease, Derrick Did How to Be Heart-Healthy All Day Long Transcript A heart murmur is what a lot of people think is so very serious, but it’s actually nothing more than a noise. And, what I always tell people is if you live in a two story home or apartment building, when the person above you is flushing the toilet or showering, you hear flow going through the pipes. That’s essentially what a murmur is. A murmur is a noise of a higher velocity jet flow through the heart. So there are four valves in the heart. All of them can be leaky in one direction and tight in the other direction. And if they are leaky or tight for whatever reason, we can hear them many times, and that’s a murmur. But, there are many, many, many, innocent murmurs, meaning that we can hear it, but it’s nothing more than flow. A lot of people get nervous when they come to see the cardiologist, so their heart rate is up and they're very nervous and their heart’s really pounding away and sometimes we can just hear the flow, and that can make a murmur by itself. But, any murmur should really be investigated, and a cardiologist is a good place to start, and many times will make a diagnosis of a valve problem with something called an echocardiogram which is an ultrasound of the heart. Want to use this on your website? Fill out the content usage request form and then copy this code: