Cardiomyopathy is a type of cardiovascular disease that is usually asymptomatic. It is a general term used to describe a diverse group of diseases that affects the heart muscles. For most people with cardiomyopathy, their hearts don't function normally because their heart muscles have become either enlarged, abnormally thick, abnormally rigid, or unable to transmit electrical impulses in a normal fashion. Because cardiomyopathy is a general term, there are different types. Some of the major types of cardiomyopathy include dilated, hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathy. People of all ages and races can get cardiomyopathy but certain types of the disease are more common in certain groups than others. For example, dilated cardiomyopathy
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If your family has a history of cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and sudden cardiac arrest, you are more likely to get this disease than a family with no heart problems. There are many risk factors with this disease, but how do you actually contract this disease? As I stated before, cardiomyopathy is a generic term because of that there are different causes. Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common type of cardiomyopathy but researchers aren't 100% sure about what the cause of this disease really is. They know that about ⅓ of the population who had contracted this disease inherited it from their parents while the others got it from the risk factors. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is usually inherited. It’s caused by a gene mutation or change in the heart. It can also develop over time because of the risk factors like high blood pressure, aging, diabetes, and sometimes the cause is also unknown. Restrictive cardiomyopathy is the least common type of cardiomyopathy and can occur for no known reason. Some risk factors can be cancer treatment, amyloidosis, a disease in which abnormal proteins build up in the body’s organs, hemochromatosis, a disease when too much iron builds up, and sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation and can affect various organs. There are other types of cardiomyopathy but generally, this disease is still very unknown.
The prognosis of cardiomyopathy is very poor. For dilated cardiomyopathy, …show more content…
For restrictive cardiomyopathy, you are required to pay attention to your salt and water intake and monitor your weight daily. You may be prescribed medications to lower your blood pressure or control abnormal heart rhythms. For Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, you can take medications, to relax your heart. You can also get a Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) to monitor heart rhythm and deliver electric shocks, Septal ablation to destroy thickened heart muscle by injecting alcohol, and lastly Septal myectomy to remove part of the thickened heart muscle by surgery. Lastly for dilated cardiomyopathy, you may take medications to improve your heart’s pumping ability, improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, slow heart rate, and to keep blood clots from forming. You can also surgically implant devices, like the ICD stated above. With the surgically implanted devices, there are chances of complications like error during the surgery, shocking during the wrong time, or even the device failing to work. For the medications, there are side effects like dizziness, fatigue, cold hands and feet, disturbed sleep, itchy skin and mood swings. Although there are many complications, there’s still a chance that the treatment plans will
If your family has a history of cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and sudden cardiac arrest, you are more likely to get this disease than a family with no heart problems. There are many risk factors with this disease, but how do you actually contract this disease? As I stated before, cardiomyopathy is a generic term because of that there are different causes. Dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common type of cardiomyopathy but researchers aren't 100% sure about what the cause of this disease really is. They know that about ⅓ of the population who had contracted this disease inherited it from their parents while the others got it from the risk factors. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is usually inherited. It’s caused by a gene mutation or change in the heart. It can also develop over time because of the risk factors like high blood pressure, aging, diabetes, and sometimes the cause is also unknown. Restrictive cardiomyopathy is the least common type of cardiomyopathy and can occur for no known reason. Some risk factors can be cancer treatment, amyloidosis, a disease in which abnormal proteins build up in the body’s organs, hemochromatosis, a disease when too much iron builds up, and sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation and can affect various organs. There are other types of cardiomyopathy but generally, this disease is still very unknown.
The prognosis of cardiomyopathy is very poor. For dilated cardiomyopathy, …show more content…
For restrictive cardiomyopathy, you are required to pay attention to your salt and water intake and monitor your weight daily. You may be prescribed medications to lower your blood pressure or control abnormal heart rhythms. For Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, you can take medications, to relax your heart. You can also get a Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) to monitor heart rhythm and deliver electric shocks, Septal ablation to destroy thickened heart muscle by injecting alcohol, and lastly Septal myectomy to remove part of the thickened heart muscle by surgery. Lastly for dilated cardiomyopathy, you may take medications to improve your heart’s pumping ability, improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, slow heart rate, and to keep blood clots from forming. You can also surgically implant devices, like the ICD stated above. With the surgically implanted devices, there are chances of complications like error during the surgery, shocking during the wrong time, or even the device failing to work. For the medications, there are side effects like dizziness, fatigue, cold hands and feet, disturbed sleep, itchy skin and mood swings. Although there are many complications, there’s still a chance that the treatment plans will