Hi guys, I think it once again for joining my WhatsApp broadcasts. So today I was just talking to someone and they asked me a very interesting question and I thought I'd try and do a video. Okay, so they said to me, look I'm really scared about developing an enlarged heart. Can you tell me why the heart enlarges? And the answer is simple, okay? The heart is a container, it contains blood. So the reason the heart enlarges is when the heart has to contain more blood. So when you increase the amount of blood within the heart, the heart will enlarge. So the next question is why, what conditions increase the amount of blood within the heart, causing the heart to enlarge? And there are two main types of conditions that can cause the heart to enlarge. Okay, the first is if the heart is damaged for any reason, then that can cause the heart to enlarge. So by that I mean, let's say someone has a heart attack. What is a heart attack? Heart attack is death of part of the heart muscle. So if you have a heart attack, then a part of your heart muscle is not going to be contributing to the overall function of the heart, which means that less blood will be ejected from the heart every time the heart beats. If less blood is ejected from the heart, then less blood goes around the body. And in particular, less blood goes to the kidneys. Okay, now the kidneys are very sensitive to the amount of blood they receive. And their immediate reaction is when they get less blood is, this person is dehydrated. Let's absorb some more water, because they would normally get rid of some water in the form of urine. Let's absorb some water to try and restore the amount of blood in the circulation. So the kidneys will absorb more. They will restore the amount of blood in the circulation or they think they are, but the problem was never a shortage of blood. The problem was that the heart wasn't pumping effectively. And that's why there was less blood getting to the kidneys. So now what you have is a situation where you have more blood. Okay, the heart still can't pump that extra. It's still can't pump out that extra amount of blood because it is still weak. And therefore the kidneys will continue to get less blood. And therefore, over a period of years you get into this vicious cycle where less blood gets to the kidneys, the kidneys absorb more. Because the heart remains weak, the kidneys continue to get less blood. As time progresses, the amount of blood within the heart gets more and more. The heart starts stretching initially when you stretch the heart. It acts like a rubber band. So it twangs back with more force. So if you take a rubber band, stretch it. It'll come together with more force. If you stretch it even more, it comes back together with even more force. But at some point if you stretch it so wide that it loses its elasticity and then it becomes weak and flabby. And the same applies to the heart. Initially, the heart will respond by trying to contract more strongly. But as time progresses, as this vicious cycle continues, the heart becomes weak and flabby. That is one way by which the heart enlarges. The second way by which the heart enlarges is if you have a leaky valve somewhere within the heart. So what happens there is the heart pumps blood out, but some blood leaks back. And therefore the kidneys will get less blood. The kidneys will absorb more. And the same thing happens and you develop a vicious cycle. And therefore more blood accumulates in the heart. And because the heart is a container and has to contain this blood, it starts stretching and eventually it stretches to the point where it becomes weak and flabby. And that is the reason that the heart enlarges. So I hope you found this useful. I would love to hear what you think about this. And I again wanted to say thank you so much for joining my WhatsApp broadcast. If you have friends or family who might be interested, I would be so grateful if you share this with them. Thank you so much. All the best.