Cardiomyopathy: Causes, Symptoms, And Treatment: All You Need To Know

The human heart is responsible for carrying blood and oxygen all over the body ensuring proper bodily functions are done. Yet several conditions arise daily that disrupt well-being. It requires much care and effort to overcome these challenges.  Cardiomyopathy is a condition targeted to the heart and comes under serious consequences. Cardiomyopathy is the name given to a group of diseases that affect the muscles of the human heart. This while getting affected causes damage to the structure and improper functioning. This brief article explains its causes, symptoms, and necessary treatments to stay on the safe side. Without wasting much time let’s peek into it.

What is Cardiomyopathy?

Cardiomyopathy is a combination of diseases that target the heart’s muscles stretching it causing damage and poor functioning. Cardiomyopathy can affect individuals between the ages of 20 and 60. There is no complete solution for cardiomyopathy as of now and despite this, it’s still possible to slow the declining process of an individual with proper care and consistent efforts.

Causes of Cardiomyopathy

Before jumping into symptoms and treatments, let’s look at the causes behind Cardiomyopathy for you to watch out. These include:

1. Genetic Factors: The genes inherit several mutations from your parents or previous older generations. These might make you fall under the control of the disease.
2. Viral Infection: There are several identified and unidentified viral disease that spreads among people. Cardiomyopathy is a condition where the heart muscles get damaged, which can be caused by certain diseases.
3. High Blood Pressure/Hypertension: Stressing or persisting spiked levels of blood pressure weaken the heart and cause cardiomyopathy in the end.
4. Valve problems of the heart: This issue with the heart valves over extended periods is most likely to cause cardiomyopathy.
5. Excess Alcohol Consumption: Alcohol, in general, is injurious to health overconsumption of high amounts. Unsurprisingly chronic alcohol consumption hurts the heart muscles and is followed by cardiomyopathy.
6. Pregnancy: Peripartum Cardiomyopathy is a condition that is affected pre or post-pregnancy as a pregnancy-related issue.
7. Chemotherapy and Medications: medications or some sort of treatments like Chemo or drugs can negatively impact heart cells and cause Cardiomyopathy.

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Symptoms Of Cardiomyopathy

Let’s now take a look at symptoms that are followed by Cardiomyopathy to be extra cautious or early detection to stay much safer. These symptoms include:

1. Short Breath: While engaging in physical activity, a Cardiomyopathy person tends to have short breaths as a sign of his/her difficulty in breathing
2. Fatigue: Even with minimal effort feeling tired or weak that too frequently is a classic sign of Cardiomyopathy.
3. Swelling: A bit odd but swelling in the legs, ankles feet or abdomen might be a sign of Cardiomyopathy. This happens due to the fluid retention within a person’s body.
4. Arrhythmias: This condition in simple terms is the irregular heartbeat and this case might be a sign to let you know that you might be having Cardiomyopathy.
5. Chest pain or discomfort: This occurs due to the lack of blood flow to the heart resulting in pain and discomfort which is a major sign that you need professional help.
6. Dizziness or Fainting: The feeling of lightheadedness and fainting is another common sign while encountering cardiomyopathy. Inadequate blood circulation is the reason behind this.

Treatment Options

Ensure to follow or incorporate these steps to prevent or treat Cardiomyopathy. All of these tasks require consistent effort and must be done correctly to achieve the desired results.

1. Medication: When you’re affected with cardiomyopathy doctors are likely to prescribe several medications. These are used to control symptoms regulate proper heartbeats and reduce fluid retention. ACE inhibitors, Beta-blockers, diuretics, and anticoagulants are a few popular options.
2. Lifestyle Changes: Whether you agree or not change of lifestyle is recommended to prevent or tackle health issues and conditions. This includes practicing a healthy and balanced diet, regular physical activity such as exercise and finally quitting smoking, and reducing the consumption of alcohol along with stress management are the best practices for any disease or condition.
3. Implantable Devices: When the condition is severe, experts use implantable devices like pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) to prevent instant cardiac arrest and regulate the rhythm of the heart.
4. Surgical procedures: In the worst case scenario the person who suffers the disease must undergo surgery for the best results. Septal myectomy for removing the thickened heart muscle and a heart transplant are the options that might be necessary.

Further Tips for care and prevention

Follow these additional tips to prevent, tackle, or secure you a bit more. 

1. Regular Monitoring: People who have encountered cardiomyopathy must undergo regular check-ups and complete monitoring by a health care expert to analyze the heart and suggest any change for the current treatment or precautions that are necessary.
2. Family Screening: Since the issue extends to genetic components it is highly advised to monitor the family members for early detection and handle potential risks.
3. Support and Education: There are support groups to back you up emotionally and mentally and help you manage your stress. It would be beneficial to educate yourself more about the issue by utilizing educational resources. These groups consisting of individuals and families are a valuable source of mental strength and information.

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Conclusion

Cardiomyopathy is a complex condition that requires comprehensive care and lifestyle modifications to manage effectively. While the goal of treatment is to reduce symptoms and avoid consequences, effective management of the condition depends on early detection, routine medical care, and adoption of a heart-healthy lifestyle. For people with cardiomyopathy to have happy, productive lives while maintaining their heart health, they must seek advice from medical professionals and follow their advice. There are yet dozens of ways to care and enjoy life and encountering a condition like this shouldn’t be the reason for your fade of happiness and enjoyment. Live your normal life with additional care and see the condition as a competition to beat it for a better life of joy and fulfillment.

References

• Buja G, Estes NA, III, Wichter T, Corrado D, Marcus F, Thiene G. Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia: risk stratification and therapy. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2008;50(4):282–293. [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
• Hulot JS, Jouven X, Empana JP, Frank R, Fontaine G. Natural history and risk stratification of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy. Circulation. 2004;110(14):1879–1884. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]