Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle. In cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle becomes enlarged and rigid. As this disease worsens, the heart becomes weaker and is less able to pump enough of blood for the body. Cardiomyopathy can be inherited from your parents or close relatives, due to a change in some of the genes in heart muscle proteins. It can also be acquired over time as a result of smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure or some other disease or condition. Cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest, and arrhythmias. There are four main types of cardiomyopathy.
The first type of cardiomyopathy is Dilated Cardiomyopathy and it is the most common. Dilated Cardiomyopathy affects adults between the ages of 20 and 60 years and is more likely to occur in men than in women. It starts in the left ventricle, when the heart muscle begins to dilate and doesn’t contract normally. When this happens, it then may spread to the right ventricle and atria, causing the heart to become weak and fail.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the second type and can affect people of any age. It occurs when the walls of the ventricles thicken. If thickening blocks blood flow out of the ventricle, it’s called obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and if thickening does not block the blood flow out of the ventricle, …show more content…
Some of those tests may include an Echocardiography, a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of you; this picture shows how well the heart is working and its shape and size, a Chest X Ray a test that shows whether your heart is enlarged and whether or not fluid is building up in your lungs, a blood test to show information about your heart and an Electrocardiogram (EKG) which is a test that shows how fast your heart is beating, its rhythm, its strength and timing of electrical signals by recording the hearts electrical
The first type of cardiomyopathy is Dilated Cardiomyopathy and it is the most common. Dilated Cardiomyopathy affects adults between the ages of 20 and 60 years and is more likely to occur in men than in women. It starts in the left ventricle, when the heart muscle begins to dilate and doesn’t contract normally. When this happens, it then may spread to the right ventricle and atria, causing the heart to become weak and fail.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the second type and can affect people of any age. It occurs when the walls of the ventricles thicken. If thickening blocks blood flow out of the ventricle, it’s called obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and if thickening does not block the blood flow out of the ventricle, …show more content…
Some of those tests may include an Echocardiography, a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of you; this picture shows how well the heart is working and its shape and size, a Chest X Ray a test that shows whether your heart is enlarged and whether or not fluid is building up in your lungs, a blood test to show information about your heart and an Electrocardiogram (EKG) which is a test that shows how fast your heart is beating, its rhythm, its strength and timing of electrical signals by recording the hearts electrical